Agriculture minister Chen chi-chung on Tuesday said Taiwan is rushing to inoculate cattle on the offshore island of Kinmen amid an outbreak of lumpy skin disease. The disease poses a threat to Taiwan’s beef and dairy markets.
Chen said the government has procured 10,000 vaccines and is expected to start administering them within a week. He said every effort must be made to prevent the disease from spreading to the rest of the country.
The outbreak was allegedly transmitted by flies from China’s Fujian province. Chen said China had reported to the World Organization for Animal Health last year when the disease broke out in Xinjiang. However Chen said Beijing failed to report when the infections spread to Fujian in June.
Lumpy skin disease poses no health risks to humans. However, afflicted cattle produce significantly less milk and are deemed of little economic value because they do not recuperate from the illness.