With the four-day ban on the slaughter of poultry ending on January 28, stronger bird flu measures should be able to bring Taiwan's poultry supply back to normal levels by Lunar New Year (mid-February), Vice Premier Chang San-cheng said today at a meeting of the Executive Yuan bird flu response center.
After being briefed on measures taken by various agencies, the vice premier said that the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) has so far distributed NT$110 million (US$3.5 million) in subsidies to counties and cities that have culled affected livestock. The Council of Agriculture (COA) puts the epidemic's compensation and rebuilding costs at NT$1.6 billion (US$51.1 million), and any insufficient funds will be covered by the Executive Yuan's secondary reserve fund.
The culling subsidies, in particular, are expected to reach NT$700 million to NT$800 million (US$22.3 million to NT$25.5 million), more than half of which will be shouldered by the central government. Compensation amounts, meanwhile, will be determined later in the week.
Chang commended the Environmental Protection Administration for deploying drones to spot illegally dumped bird carcasses and to check for suspicious deaths at poultry farms. He warned breeders not to defy the law as the government is using advanced real-time equipment to detect and report violations directly to local authorities.
As for pork prices possibly being pushed up by the bird flu epidemic, the government has expanded imports and directed the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp. to increase its supply of pork, Chang said. Agencies will also continue to monitor market prices. Meanwhile, the COA indicated that is increasing pork supplies gradually in time to meet Lunar New Year demands.
Military personnel are continuing to assist city and county governments with disinfection and transport, as they did in the peripheries of testing sites last week. The military has also helped the Tainan City Government transport eggs and feed.
Chang refuted online rumors that the government imported live chickens from mainland China, calling these claims completely baseless and impossible.
After the COA sent H5N2 and H5N8 viruses to the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) for testing, the MOHW confirmed that these strains came to Taiwan from overseas rather than developing on the island. The ministry also emphasized that citizens need not be concerned about catching the bird flu themselves because these strains cannot be passed on to humans.
To prevent further spread of the outbreak after the poultry slaughter ban ends Wednesday afternoon, the COA is cooperating with the Ministry of the Interior's National Police Administration, the Ministry of National Defense, and local governments on the following measures:
- Setting up quarantine stations in five hot spots: Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan and Pingtung.
- Stepping up disinfection of vehicles (such as cargo, feed and chemical trucks) passing through major thoroughfares.
- Conducting checks for poultry health certificates.