15/02/2019
This is the first time a product sample from outside China has tested positive for ASF, the Council of Agriculture revealed Friday.
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture (COA) has announced that it will hold a press conference, Feb. 15, to announce that the African Swine Fever (ASF) virus has been detected in pork products from the nations of Vietnam.
The troubling announcement is a very likely indicator that the ASF epidemic in China has crossed the southern border into Vietnam, which will force Taiwan to increase scrutiny of travelers from the Southeast Asian country.
Another concern of the COA, is that the contaminated meat products were discovered by Taiwanese authorities, and that there has been no official notice or warning issued by the Vietnamese government.
According to Liberty Times, the COA has been testing samples of pork products from foreign countries since late August 2018. Of 1,158 samples, 928 products have completed the inspection. There have so far been 20 samples found to be contaminated with ASF, all of which came from China.
However, for the first time on Feb. 15, a tested sample from neighboring Vietnam was discovered to contain the ASF virus.
By Duncan DeAeth
Source: Taiwan News