Taiwan authorities have for the first time confiscated meat products carrying the African swine fever virus. In response to the news on Sunday, government authorities have taken a number of measures to contain the potential spread of the disease.
African swine fever is a deadly and highly contagious disease affecting domestic and feral pigs. It is not a threat to humans because it cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans. The disease also has no bearing on food safety.
The Central Emergency Operation Center says it is tracing the products’ producers and customers. The products arrived from Vietnam by plane.
The center also says it is trying to determine whether or not the goods entered the market. It says it will recall and destroy all potentially infected products.
During a visit to an inspection warehouse, Premier Su Tseng-chang asked the Customs Administration why the infected products were not detected at the border.
The Customs Administration says it is examining all meat products arriving from Vietnam, starting Sunday. However, it says it does not have the funding, space or workforce needed to increase the number of random inspections.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Administration says it will inspect all pig farms using food waste as feed, to ensure that the virus cannot survive the feed preparation process.