On the night of the 14th, biosecurity personnel, dressed in protective clothing, removed the floated dead pigs from the beach at Triangular Fort in Cihu, Jinning Township, and proceeded to collect samples. They then incinerated and buried the pigs on site and thoroughly disinfected the surrounding area. The test results released on the 17th confirmed positive for African Swine Fever virus nucleic acid, with a 100% similarity to the second genotype of the virus circulating in China.

Xu Rongbin, the head of the Agriculture Department’s Quarantine Bureau, stated, “The floated pigs are determined to have drifted in from China.” The outbreak of African Swine Fever in China remains a serious concern, and this is the first floated pig discovery in Kinmen in nearly a year. As a precaution, the Agriculture Department immediately announced a ban on the shipment of fresh pork and meat products from Kinmen to Taiwan from the 17th to the 23rd.

Additionally, the Coast Guard Administration is ramping up border controls and meat product inspections and enhancing inspection efforts. The Coast Guard Administrator, Zhang Zhonglong, visited Liao Luo commercial port in Kinmen, announcing increased manpower for inspections, especially for vessels from epidemic areas that will undergo 100% inspections. Xu Rongbin emphasized that Taiwan's domestic measures for pig disease prevention remain at a high standard, despite just having been recognized as the only country in Asia free from African Swine Fever, classical swine fever, and foot-and-mouth disease last May.

The Quarantine Bureau pointed out that the positivity rate for African Swine Fever among illegally imported meat products at the border reached 10%, indicating that the epidemic situation in Asia remains severe, hence all prevention measures cannot be relaxed.