Taiwan government found African Swine Fever virus in pork sausages from a parcel from Thailand for the first time

New Year is a just around the corner. As gifting is one of the customs across Asian countries, it is vital to remember that not to send packages containing pork products. On December 22, Taiwan government found virus in the pork sausage from a parcel sent from Thailand. After confirming the place of origin, Taiwan government immediately notified the Thai government & Thai OIE representative and returned the parcel.

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For the first time, African Swine Fever has been detected in parcel sausage from Thailand. (Photo / Retrieved from Pixabay)

Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, COA, Executive Yuan mentioned that Thailand has never notified the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) of African swine fever cases.

However, because of the Indochinese Peninsula connects countries with China, the response center of Taiwan conducted risk analysis as early as 2019 and estimated the possible path of the virus transmission. Thailand is included in the list of countries with high risk of African swine fever.

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Response center appealed to the public to not receive or import any parcels containing pork products in illegal ways. (Photo / Retrieved from Facebook: 陳吉仲)

Response center appealed to the public to not receive or import any parcels containing pork products in illegal ways. To protect pigs in Taiwan, the NIA continues to share the relevant information & announcements in multiple languages, reminding new immigrants not to bring or purchase meat products abroad.

NIA emphasized that the people bringing pork products from ASF-infected zones will be fined up to 1 million New Taiwan dollars. Mailing or buying pork products online from abroad is more serious and will be punished fixed-term imprisonment of less than one year and a fine of less than 3 million New Taiwan dollars.