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Preventing the Spread of African Swine Fever To Protect Taiwan’s Pigs and Related Industry Together
Taiwan has firstly found out smuggled meat products imported from Vietnam. The products are already sold in the market and also found to be contained with Swine Fever (ASF) virus. While the strict work done to fight against ASF for 3 years is now threatned severly, the police has started to examine the imported goods from upstream to downstream. The Council of Agriculture (COA) has urgently activated reinforcing measures (防堵非洲豬瘟) aginst the spread of ASF, stating that there is a need to comprehensively improve the prevention measures.
Are you worried about whether ASF is transmittable to humans? What will happen if one accidently consumes pork products containing ASF virus? What should one do with pork products of unknown origin? Taiwan Immigrants’ Global News Network has compiled all the related QA for reader’s reference.
The Transmission routes of African Swine Fever
African Swine Fever (ASF) can be transmitted through various routes, including food waste, ticks, pigs’ secretion or excretion, vehicles carrying infected pigs or food waste, workers’ clothes, meat products, and so on. At this moment, there are no approved vaccines for prevention and no medications to cure. Pig farms detected with ASF have to adopt whole-farm culling.
No cure for African swine fever super virus
No Vaccines against ASF
100% Death rate
Virus is highly adaptable
Fast spread
Culled when found
Buried when found
Three Steps to Keep ASF at Bay, Protecting Taiwan’s Pigs Together
To prevent ASF and strengthen its anti-epidemic effort, the National Immigration Agency’s brigade sent staff to eateries and Southeast Asian stores to increase the awareness of not using ingredients of unknown origin, and to promote the "Three Steps to Keep ASF at Bay".
Meat products that one should be aware of
The National Immigration Agency has detected imported pork products with ASF which can live over 1000 days in frozen pork. Public hould not buy processed pork products without quarantine certificates or of unknown origin, such as mooncakes, rice dumplings, hams, hotdogs, pork floss, or feeds containing meat. One should take initiatives to inform the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, preventing oneself from consuming food with the virus.
Preventing Breaches of African Swine Fever, Food Waste Recycling Should Be Strictly Done
If one finds pork products of unknown origin, one can send it to the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine or Taipei City Animal Protection Office. If one wants to dump it, throw it at “Trash”. Do NOT dump it in the food waste. Otherwise, it might result in virus spreading into stock farms, causing ASF virus breaches. If one receives free pork product giveaway of unknown origin from overseas or China, the same method mentioned above (sending it to the BAPHIQ, COA) should be adopted.
Pork Products of Unknown Origin Can Get You Fined 1 Million Dollars
Bringing pork products from abroad illegally through customs can get one fined at most 1 million dollars; Purchasing meat products online from infected areas to Taiwan can get one punished at most 7-year imprisonment or with combined sentence of supplementary punishmentat at most 3 million dollars. Thus, an important notice for the citizens: do NOT bring in pork products going through immigrants/customs. On top of that, do not purchase any pork products of unknown origin online, which might make you consume the virus or even get fined.
