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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Authorities cull 6,040 ducks in Chiayi over bird flu
By Tang Chia-ling / Staff reporter, with CNA
More than 6,000 broiler ducks at a farm in Chiayi County’s Puzih City （朴子） were culled on Friday after about 200 ducks died from the highly contagious avian influenza virus H5N8, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday.
Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Quarantine Deputy Director-General Shih Tai-hua （施泰華） said the farm’s owner recently reported the sudden death of about 200 ducks at the farm, resulting in the bureau’s decision to conduct a full culling of the 6,040 ducks at the farm on Friday after the Animal Health Research Institute found that the dead birds were infected with a highly contagious subtype of bird flu.
The farm’s owner said the ducklings were transferred from a farm in Yunlin County’s Taisi Township （台西）, which led authorities to take samples from the Taisi farm, with test results expected this week, Shih said.
Ducks are carriers of avian influenza that exhibit few symptoms and low mortality rates when infected, but the sudden mass death of 200 ducks from H5N8 alarmed local authorities, as they fear that the virus might have mutated, localized and become more aggressive toward ducks, he said.
There are 13 poultry farms within a 1km radius of the affected farm, but samples taken from the neighboring farms tested negative for avian influenza, Shih said, adding that the council would increase monitoring of the area and instruct the farms to disinfect their properties more frequently.
The affected farm, which was originally a goose farm, has the capacity to house 7,000 ducks, although only about 6,200 ducks were kept at the facility, Shih said.
Up to Friday last week, the council this year had tested samples from 983 farms nationwide, confirming avian influenza infections at 951 and culling the birds at the 951 farms, he said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
