An outbreak of avian flu in Taiwan has spread to the remote eastern part of the island. The east coast counties of Ilan, Hualien and Taitung had joined forces to restrict the transport of live chickens across their borders, hoping to keep out the virus. But that was not enough to prevent an infection at a small farm in Taitung.
The infected farm had originally reported that about half of its more than 200 chickens had died. Initial tests had fingered a different illness, but a second round of tests came back positive for the H5 avian flu virus.
Taitung County has more than 100 open-air poultry farms within its borders, making it difficult to contain an outbreak once an infection has been detected.
Taitung County officials held an emergency meeting on Monday, and have ordered the spraying of all of the poultry farms within the county.