QUARANTINE LOOPHOLES: It is difficult to require hog farms to install GPS devices, given that smaller farmers use their vehicles for various purposes, an official said
Taipei Times
Date: Jan 09, 2019
By: Lin Chia-nan and Lee I-chia / Staff reporters
The Council of Agriculture should require vehicles transporting pigs to install GPS
Pigs are pictured in a pen on a pig farm in Hualien County on Sunday.
Photo: CNA
devices for retroactive tracking in the event that African swine fever enters the nation, veterinary experts said yesterday.
Since China reported the first infection in early August last year, the council has been increasing its quarantine measures against the disease, while experts continue to identify possible loopholes.
At a meeting with council officials yesterday, academics urged the council to close quarantine loopholes and brace for the worst-case scenario if unfortunately the disease enters the nation.
The disease can be latent for up to 15 days and the council should think about how to track transmission if any infection is reported, National Chung Hsing University Department of Animal Science dean Chen Chih-feng (陳志峰) said, adding that the fight against the disease could last for decades. [FULL STORY]
