BAN ON POULTRY SLAUGHTER AND TRANSPORT LIFTED|農委會宣布 7天家禽禁運禁宰令解除

Top story today, the ban on the slaughter and transport of poultry has been lifted early yesterday evening, as the last confirmed case of H5N6 was found on February 15th, meaning that there have been eight days with no new cases. But earlier in the day, academics expressed worries at an expert panel that data from small free-range farms has been missing. This may be a weak link in the government's current epidemic prevention efforts. Fresh from a cross-ministry epidemic prevention meeting, Minister of Agriculture Lin Tsung-hsien held a press conference to announce that the ban on the slaughter and transport of poultry, started on the 17th, will be lifted. ==LIN TSUNG-HSIEN Minister COA== We previously announced that the ban on transport and slaughter will be until 24:00 today. As planned, the ban will expire at 24:00. The Council of Agriculture said that eight days have passed with no confirmed new cases of H5N6 since the last positive test result on Feb. 15th. This showed that the ban was working and that the spread of the virus has been halted. However, the Council of Agriculture also said that the virus has not yet disappeared. ==HUANG CHIN-CHENG COA Vice Minister == It cannot be ruled out that wild birds may still carry the virus. We do not rule out this possibility. Earlier on an experts' panel, some academics said that the ban should continue for some regions, particularly counties that have had cases of both H5N6 and H5N2. ==KING CHWAN-CHUEN Prof., NTU Inst. of EPM== H5 strains of the avian influenza virus easily undergoes gene recombination. So when you see two different sub-strains, this is a high-risk situation. Other academics worried that no infection data is available for family-style free-range farms with under 500 chickens, which are not registered. This may be a weak point in epidemic prevention. ==HO MEI-SHANG Research Fellow, Academia Sinica Inst. of Biomedical Sciences== There is a huge hole here, where as far as I'm concerned there is simply no data. And the hole is farms with under 500 free-range chickens. They are particularly susceptible to H5N6 infections. Some academics recommended an extension to the ban in order to thoroughly eradicate the virus. However, the Council of Agriculture did not accept this recommendation. Minister Lin seemed relieved as he smiled when the press conference ended. The Council of Agriculture stressed that warning measures to combat a return of H5N6 have not been lifted, including as incentives to report infections and the requirement that ducks test negative for the virus before they go to market. Translated by JOHN CHEN 為了全力防堵禽流感、新的高病原病毒H5N6，農委會決定實施家禽禁宰禁運，首次長達七天，農委會主委林聰賢，傍晚出面宣布解除禁令，主要原因是H5N6最後一次確診病例，是在2月15日採樣，也就是至今已經有八天，沒有出現新病例。不過稍早舉行專家會議時，學者憂心，這一波檢驗，都沒有小型土雞場的相關資料，這恐怕是目前的防疫缺口。 才開完跨部會防疫會議的農委會主委林聰賢，馬上舉行記者會對外說明，並宣布17號零時啟動的七天家禽禁運禁宰政策，確定解禁。 ==農委會主委 林聰賢== 我們公告到今天的24時 這個移動跟這個禁宰的規定 我們就按照原訂的計畫 只到今天的24時 農委會表示，自從2月15日採樣檢驗出有H5N6病毒之後，已經八天沒有出現確診病例，顯示病毒沒有擴散，禁宰禁運有了成效，但農委會也坦言病毒還不可能消失。 ==農委會副主委 黃金城== 目前我們不排除可能在野鳥身體上 還有這樣的病毒存在 這個我們並不排除 不過在稍早的專家會議上，有學者認為現在還不宜全面解禁，應分區解禁，尤其是在同時驗出H5N6跟H5N2這兩種高病毒病毒的縣市。 ==臺大流行病學與預防醫學研究所教授 金傳春== 它的H5的這個禽流感病毒 它很容易基因重組 如果你看到有這兩個 這兩種不同養禽的病毒的時候 它的風險是高的 另外也有學者憂心，目前沒有登記，飼養五百隻以下土雞的家庭式養禽場，在這段期間完全沒有任何疫情資訊，恐怕也是防疫漏洞。 ==中研院生物醫學科學研究所研究員 何美鄉== 有一個很大的漏洞 而且那個對我來講是沒有資料的 那個沒有資料的就是 五百隻以下的土雞 牠應該是更容易被H5N6感染 也有學者建議要徹底消滅病毒，應延長禁宰禁運，不過最後農委會沒有採納，記者會結束後主委林聰賢看起來鬆了一口氣並露出微笑，面對H5N6可能隨時蠢蠢欲動，農委會則強調，相關警戒並沒有解除，包括鼓勵主動通報、與鴨子上市前要檢驗陰性等措施，都繼續實施。 記者 林靜梅 陳昌維 陳保羅 台北報導