At the Cabinet meeting today, Premier Jiang Yi-huah enjoined the Council of Agriculture (COA) to closely monitor the porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus that has recently plagued piglets among hog farms in central and southern Taiwan and to ensure pork prices remain stable.
The premier remarked that the outbreak has caused public worries about food safety and could drive the price of pork upward, in particular during the peak consumption periods of the Dragon Boat Festival and Ghost Festival, which this year fall on June 2 and August 10, respectively.
To eradicate the disease as early as possible, Jiang directed the COA to augment supervision and assist pig farmers with PED control and prevention via the various levels of animal health-inspection and epidemic-control institutes. Meanwhile, the COA should map out subsequent market supply and distribution measures to stabilize prices so that the public can purchase pork without worry, he added.
"The COA should stay on the lookout to prevent price gouging on the one hand and a supply shortage six months from now on the other," emphasized the premier as he enjoined the COA to have countermeasures in place soon and publicize them to allay citizens' concerns.
"In this global village where frequent exchanges and interaction occur, a contagious virus can easily mingle and spread," he warned. "The COA should therefore maintain vigilance against international epidemics, and in the instance that one is reported, formulate response measures so as to minimize its impact."
The premier further reiterated that the COA and other relevant ministries should be more proactive in elaborating epidemic information to the public so that professional knowledge can be disseminated prior to other media reports to avoid misreporting or sensationalizing of the event, which could induce restlessness and anxiety in society.