Foot-and-mouth disease breaks out in offshore Taiwan county

Taipei, March 23 (CNA) More than 900 pigs have been culled in the offshore county of Penghu after some hogs on the auction block at the county's meat market on Tuesday were spotted with blisters on their mouths, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said in a statement.

After the discovery, managers at the market moved quickly to try to contain the outbreak. They immediately slaughtered all 30 pigs that were in the same truck compartment as the first infected animals, and disinfected the market's holding pens and equipment.

The county government then announced a suspension of meat market trade and a ban on the movement of cloven-hoofed animals throughout the county, pending an investigation of the cause of the outbreak.

Initial tests on samples collected from the ailing pigs showed that they were infected with an O-type FMD virus, said Huang Kuo-ching, deputy director of COA's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine.

As the investigation unfolded over the last day, authorities determined that the infected pigs came from Penghu's largest hog ranch, Huang said.

County officials found other pigs at that ranch showing symptoms of FMD. Huang said his bureau immediately ordered an across-the-board slaughter of every pig at that ranch. As of noon, 969 pigs have been culled. COA brought backup from soldiers in Penghu to assist with the slaughter and carcasses burial.

The bureau has also widened its probe to two farms located within a 3-kilometer radius from the original ranch, but found none of their pigs showing FMD symptoms. Huang said his bureau will continue monitoring conditions at those two farms.

Meanwhile, Penghu's county government has set up an emergency task force to deal with the FMD outbreak. Its meat market will remain closed until the cause of the FMD outbreak is discovered, Huang said.

Unlike ranches in Taiwan proper, the pigs in Penghu County have not received vaccinations against FMD since 2006, Huang said.

FMD is a highly contagious and sometimes fatal viral disease among cloven-hoofed animals. However, transmission to humans is extremely rare.

Since a serious FMD outbreak hit Taiwan in 1997, locally grown pork has been barred from exports. Sporadic FMD outbreaks were reported in some parts of Taiwan last year.

In the wake of the latest FMD outbreak in Penghu, Huang said, his bureau will launch checks on hog, cattle and goat ranches throughout Taiwan to prevent spread of the disease.