Agriculture officials in Taiwan are continuing to battle an outbreak of avian flu, which has led to a decrease in both the demand for, and price of, chickens.
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine released the latest outbreak figures on Sunday. It said that tests have been conducted at 22 new farms, for a total of 663 farms. While that’s a decrease in the number of farms which have been added to the list, officials say that the situation is still serious.
Of the farms which have been tested, a total of 622 were found to have birds infected with avian flu. When you translate that into the total number of infected birds, it’s approaching four million.
Of particular concern is Taiwan’s goose population. So far, authorities have tested 1.9 million birds. If all of them are diagnosed with avian flu, that would mean a loss of 95% of the nation’s goose population.
Meanwhile authorities say that the spread of avian flu has dampened consumer interest in poultry. So far, that’s had an affect primarily on the price of chickens.