Health

Dead Pig With African Swine Fever Washes Ashore on Kinmen

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By TaiwanPlus

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Another pig carcass infected with African swine fever has washed ashore on the Kinmen Islands near China. It's the third such carcass to wash up on the islands this year alone, threatening Taiwan's efforts to keep out a disease that's almost 100% fatal to pigs.

African Swine Fever on Kinmen

REPORTER:  
A dead pig infected with African swine fever has washed ashore on Taiwan's outlying Kinmen Islands.

Local authorities made the announcement on Tuesday after discovering the carcass earlier this week. This is the third time it's happened this year. Kinmen is a short distance from China, and more than 5,000 pigs live within ten-kilometers of where the pig washed up. Pork exports from Kinmen to the rest of Taiwan have been banned through the end of the month as a precaution. Taiwan remains free of African swine fever, which is fatal to pigs but does not affect humans.

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Keeping Out African Swine Fever

REPORTER:  
A dead pig that washed ashore on the Kinmen Islands Friday has tested positive for African Swine Fever. The disease doesn’t affect people but has a death rate of up to 100% among infected pigs, threatening Taiwan’s pork industry.

Taiwan remains free of the disease. But infected carcasses regularly wash up on the Kinmen Islands, a short distance from China: there have been 23 cases since 2018 and three so far this year alone. Over 5,000 pigs live within a ten kilometer radius of where the pig carcass washed up, and all pig and pork exports to the rest of Taiwan are banned through the end of the month as a precaution.