April 1, 2009
Taiwan culls 291 pigs over suspected FMD cases
A total of 291 pigs have been culled in Chiayi City, Taiwan after cases of suspected foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) were detected in the southern city on Friday (Mar 27), according to an official from the country's Council of Agriculture (COA) Sunday (Mar 29).
Staff members from the COA's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine spotted several pigs showing suspected symptoms of FMD during a routine inspection of the Chiayi meat market, the official said.
After being alerted, Chiayi city government tracked the source of the ill pigs to a farm in neighbouring Chiayi County and barred the movement of pigs from that farm.
Those pigs that showed suspected FMD symptoms and other pigs kept in the same enclosure in the farm were culled while the remaining pigs were given vaccine shots.
Meanwhile, the official added that pigs raised in farms located within one kilometre from the affected farm have also been vaccinated and a field survey of the 25 hog farms located within a 3km-radius of the suspected FMD spot showed no signs of the spread of the disease.
The official said the council is still examining the samples collected from the slaughtered pigs and have not yet determined whether they had been infected by the disease.
