Swine flu in CHT, Taiwan to fine if pork meat imported from Bangladesh

Taiwan's Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) has announced a fine of NT$200,000 if Bangladeshi pork products enter the country after African Swine Fever (ASF) was detected in the Chattogram Hill Tracts – the first reported case in Bangladesh.

The CEOC issued this directive following the death of a pig due to the ASF in a pig farm in Manikchari area of Rangamati Sadar Upazila on 21 December.

According to the information from the Divisional Livestock Office, Chattogram, pork meat is not exported from Bangladesh.

Some small tribal groups in hilly areas raise pigs for their own consumption. Therefore, there is no opportunity to legally export the meat from Bangladesh.

However, there is an opportunity for pork to go from Bangladesh to other countries through India and Myanmar, which border the Chattogram Hill Tracts. 

The remote hilly areas, especially in the Mizoram region, do not have much border surveillance. Therefore, there is scope for illegal smuggling of pork through this border route.

A Taiwan-based news agency Focus Taiwan reports that the ASF outbreak occurred in Chattogram, where 274 pigs out of 414 in a farm came down with the disease.

Some 227 have died. 

This was the first report of ASF in Taiwan, which indicates that the disease is still spreading in Asia, the CEOC said.

Livestock Department Chittagong Division Director Dr AKM Humayun Kabir told The Business Standard that ASF has an almost 100% fatality rate. Since November, the farm in Manikchari has been experiencing a distressing situation where pigs are succumbing to the fever, one by one.

The Manikchari farm has been experiencing the outbreak of ASF since 1 November. The Department of Livestock Resources is currently providing veterinary services at the farm.

The ASF is a highly contagious and deadly viral disease affecting both domestic and feral swine of all ages, but it is not a threat to human health and cannot be transmitted from pigs to humans. It is not a food safety issue.

Though Bangladesh was considered to be free of ASF prior to 21 December, it was not recognised as disease-free for other infectious animal diseases, meaning that pigs and pork imports from the country were not permitted.

Under the previous designation, however, the fine for bringing in pork products from Bangladesh was NT$30,000, the report added.

Taiwan and Japan are the only remaining East Asian ASF-free countries since the ASF outbreak erupted in China in 2018, said Hsu Jung-pin, deputy director-general of Taiwan's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (APHIA).

The Focus Taiwan report said there are currently no direct flights between Bangladesh and Taiwan, and the APHIA has asked its four branches, as well as the Ministry of Finance's Customs Administration and the Ocean Affairs Council's Coast Guard Administration to step up quarantines and investigations.