Taiwan adds South Sudan to high-risk ASF group — Taipei Times
Taiwan’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency has added South Sudan to the list of countries at high risk of African swine fever following the first confirmed case of the disease in the African country. Taiwanese authorities urged people not to bring in pork products from countries and regions where ASF has been recorded.
First case in South Sudan
As reported by Taipei Times, the World Organisation for Animal Health published information about the case on its official website on Friday afternoon. The case was detected on July 18 in samples taken at a pig farm in Yambio, South Sudan.
Taiwan’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency classified South Sudan as a country at high risk of ASF, where cases of the disease have been recorded during the past three years. Border quarantine authorities were instructed to strengthen controls and continue combating the illegal importation of pork products under a zero-tolerance policy.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Taiwan’s quarantine rules
The African swine fever emergency operations center said Taiwan has no records of imports of live pigs or pork products from South Sudan. The Ministry of Agriculture has also not confirmed that the country is free of ASF, foot-and-mouth disease and classical swine fever. There are no direct flights or postal links between Taiwan and South Sudan.
Authorities urged travelers not to carry pork products or order them by mail or express delivery from countries affected by ASF, particularly ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival. A first illegal importation of pork products is punishable by a fine of NT$200,000, while each repeat violation carries a fine of NT$1 million.
Taiwan says it has maintained a self-declared ASF-free status since April 6. According to the center, Taiwan is the only country in Asia free of the three major pig diseases.
