"There is no holiday from fighting the bird flu epidemic," Vice Premier Chang San-cheng said today while presiding over the sixth meeting of the Executive Yuan avian influenza response center.
Chang asked the Council of Agriculture (COA) and related government agencies to supervise local governments and ensure that bird flu controls continue unabated throughout the Lunar New Year holiday, which will begin Wednesday.
For added caution, agricultural officials are checking possible sources and modes of transmission around infected duck farms by testing samples from other farms within a 1-kilometer radius. The vice premier urged the COA to speed up efforts and finish disinfections by the end of the holiday period. The COA should also guide farmers in implementing standard disease-control operating procedures as well as help affected farms recover from the outbreak.
According to studies by National Pingtung University of Science and Technology and the four regional poultry disease prevention and treatment centers, the biggest transmission risk factors for poultry farms include farm workers and vehicles, trucks that enter and exit farms (to transport feed or animal carcasses), and migratory and wild birds. Hence, the council is actively helping farmers implement standard disease-control operating procedures and has asked local animal health agencies to strengthen prevention measures for people and vehicles at risk. It will also guide waterfowl farmers in adopting biosecurity measures or switching to dry indoor feeding.
As meat markets will close from February 19 to 22 for the Lunar New Year, central and local governments will work in concert to reinforce disease control measures, COA officials said. In addition to poultry wholesale markets, processing sites and slaughterhouses, the disinfection efforts will expand to poultry farms and related public areas around Taiwan. The council's quarantine stations will also continue inspecting farms and disinfecting feed trucks, carcass transporters and other vehicles, which will help eliminate potential pathogens and prevent infections from spreading across regions.
As for disease control equipment, the Ministry of Economic Affairs indicated that supplies are being distributed according to requests from local governments. At present, there are enough protective suits, N95 masks, surgical masks, examination gloves, chloral hydrate and liquid disinfectant to support affected counties and cities for four months. Goggles and disposal bags are also being distributed in batches to ensure sufficient supplies for the holiday period.