Vice Premier Chang San-cheng today headed to the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine to inspect the government's progress in containing the avian influenza outbreak as more cases surface in Taiwan this week.
The vice premier told epidemic-prevention agencies that the latest battle against avian flu focuses on five objectives:
1. Contain the outbreak: prevent the virus from spreading to chickens and humans, and enhance supervision and monitoring of poultry farms.
2. Assist farmers in fighting avian flu to mitigate losses.
3. Protect public health and consumer rights.
4. Provide timely and accurate information to prevent unnecessary panic.
5. Carry out complementary measures to minimize impact on the environment and livelihoods.
Preventing an epidemic is like engaging in a war, Vice Premier Chang said, adding that the COA must take preemptive action on all fronts such as controlling spread of the virus, handling infection cases (culling all animals and disinfecting the area), and restoring production and sales (improving farm environments, reinforcing epidemic-prevention measures, and helping farms recover and reduce losses).
Moreover, the COA must formulate comprehensive contingency plans and standard operating procedures in order to shorten response time and minimize damage from the outbreak.
The central government will join hands with local governments to set up a three-level response mechanism, indicated the vice premier. For the first level, the COA will establish a regional cooperation mechanism consisting of response task forces in northern, central, southern and eastern Taiwan, each led by experienced officials. The task forces will work closely with local government agencies to tackle outbreak issues quickly.
For the second level, the COA will team up with the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Ministry of National Defense, Environmental Protection Administration, Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the Executive Yuan's Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) and experts in various fields to make decisions on policies regarding animal epidemic prevention, citizens' health, environmental protection, market demand and supply, commodity price stability, public sanitation, and guidance for businesses.
For the third level, the Executive Yuan will convene high-level meetings as needed, depending on the severity of the outbreaks.
With the Lunar New Year approaching, the public will be concerned about the availability of holiday foods like duck and goose products. Vice Premier Chang instructed the COA to immediately launch a response plan for keeping supplies stable, and requested the DCP and the FTC to crack down on supply hoarding, price hiking and other irregularities that disrupt market order.
Lunar New Year food supplies would also suffer considerable impact if the bird flu spreads to chickens, Chang pointed out. The COA was asked to formulate advance response measures—emergency imports included—with assistance from the MOEA and the Ministry of Finance.
While the latest avian influenza outbreak involves two new subtypes H5N2 and H5N8 that have not yet been detected in the human population, the MOHW should be on heightened alert given the high potential for the viruses to mutate, Vice Premier Chang said. He urged the MOHW to continue tracking and screening poultry farms, local residents and health officials who have had close contact with infections. Meanwhile, clinics and hospitals must also be vigilant and report suspicious cases immediately, he added.
The vice premier directed the COA to improve communication with farmers, industries and the general public to alleviate their concerns. The COA and BAPHIQ should also anticipate people's questions and set up bird flu information pages on their websites. Press conferences should be held at regular times every day to update the public on the latest developments and government responses, Chang added.
The COA has established a 24-hour hotline (0800-761-5900) and encourages people to join the fight against bird flu by reporting any suspected cases immediately.