The Executive Yuan activated the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) Monday after cases of the highly pathogenic H5N6 avian influenza virus emerged recently in Hualien and Tainan.
Premier Lin Chuan gave the following instructions at the center's first meeting today:
1. Fighting the virus is akin to waging war, so central and local governments must weigh the potential challenges and risks of the virus. Directives issued by the CEOC commander, Agriculture Minister Lin Tsung-hsien, should be carried out as swiftly as possible.
2. Local governments should stay on top of the situation by monitoring and thoroughly inspecting all enclosed and family style poultry farms within their jurisdiction.
3. To prevent farmers from hiding outbreaks, the Council of Agriculture (COA) should finalize its proposal on raising rewards for self-reporting cases. Once the proposal is finalized, it should be explained in detail to the public to raise farmers' awareness of reporting and prevention measures.
4. In the event the outbreaks continue to spread, authorities should prepare now by setting up further measures such as border controls and animal movement bans.
5. Local authorities should step up investigations of secret killings of birds and prohibit all such actions, whether at poultry farms or other sites.
The H5N6 virus detected in Hualien, Tainan and Chiayi counties this month is similar to the strain seen in Japan and South Korea, Premier Lin said. On Monday, the premier accepted the agriculture minister's recommendation to upgrade the CEOC to a level-1 facility and asked him to serve as the center's commander.
The central government should work closely with local governments to strengthen all control measures and preparations, the premier said. He also asked local authorities to monitor the outbreaks by setting up rapid reporting, information gathering and other basic procedures.
Fall is the start of avian influenza season every year, and there were outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Europe, Japan and Korea last winter, the premier noted. On December 1 last year the Executive Yuan Council thus requested that the COA deliver a report on possible avian flu outbreaks in Taiwan and the relevant response measures. The council also asked the COA to be proactive in taking preventive measures and ramp up early warning monitoring and inspections to impede the spread of the disease.
At a Cabinet-sponsored meeting in Kaohsiung on avian flu and prevention of animal-to-human transmissions that the premier attended on December 2, he also asked that central and local governments fully cooperate, both laterally and vertically, and immediately activate the CEOC when needed.
In response to public concern about whether the H5N6 avian flu virus could be transmitted to humans, the premier emphasized that there have been cases in China where the current virus had jumped from poultry to humans. Even though no such cases had occurred in either Japan or Korea, he said, that possibility cannot be overlooked, and there is every reason to maintain vigilance and not let down our guard. The premier also asked the MOHW to step up its educational and public awareness efforts to avoid undue public alarm.
Provisions addressing plant and animal diseases were already added to the Disaster Prevention and Response Act last year, so the operational procedures to handle any avian flu outbreaks will be different than in the past, the premier said. He also asked that the relevant central and local government personnel be on the alert.
Fighting avian flu is like fighting a war, which requires close coordination between the front lines and logistics forces, so the CEOC has to view the current outbreak as a national war, the premier continued. The immediate future is critical, and those involved in disease control efforts have an arduous task ahead of them. He nevertheless expressed hope that everyone will be up to the task and achieve the nation's disease-control goals. In closing, the premier offered sincere thanks to personnel from all levels of government for their efforts in fighting this virus.
The COA said that the monitoring radius for the infected farm at Hualien County's Yuli Township will be expanded from 3 to 5 kilometers, and the monitoring frequency increased from once to twice a month. These measures will remain in place until avian flu tests yield negative results for three months in a row. After that, any poultry farm within a radius of 5 kilometers showing a negative result will be allowed to sell slaughtered fowl on the market. Before February 21, water and land fowl from Hualien may not be transported to other cities or counties for slaughtering.
In Yilan County, the carcasses of 3,787 ducks illegally transported from Hualien and killed at a local slaughterhouse were destroyed after testing positive for H5N6, the COA said. Poultry farms within a 3-kilometer radius of that slaughterhouse are now being monitored, and only one farm is being cleared out at present.
In Tainan City, meanwhile, poultry farms within a 3-kilometer radius of a confirmed infection case are being monitored by Tainan's Animal Health Inspection and Protection Office. The office will also thoroughly inspect facilities within a radius of 3 to 5 kilometers, testing ducks first for signs that the virus is spreading.
According to the MOHW, health officials are monitoring people who came into contact with infected birds, and 244 people who came near the infected duckling carcass in Hualien were removed from the watchlist today. Health monitoring will continue for 73 people in Yilan and Hualien until February 21, and 16 in Tainan until February 19; these 89 individuals had not developed any symptoms of avian flu infection so far.