First new variant of bird flu found in Taiwan
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Beijing (The China Post) -- The government laboratory tests yesterday confirmed a new variant of the H5N2 avian influenza at goose farms in Yunlin and a duck farm in Pingtung, Taiwan.
This form of the H5N2 virus has not appeared before in Taiwan or elsewhere, the Council of Agriculture's (COA) Bureau of Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine (BAPHIQ) reported yesterday.
Health authorities also reported Taiwan's first documented case of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8, found in a flock of geese in Chiayi County.
The viruses have not yet been detected in the local human population and can be wiped out entirely by cooking eggs and waterfowl to 70 degrees Celsius or above.
The results are the first to arrive from lab tests conducted by the Council of Agriculture's (COA) Animal Health Research Institute.
Since January 8, operators at one duck farm and 23 goose farms across Chiayi, Pingtung, Yunlin and Tainan have sent in samples for testing.
In a report released yesterday, the COA said the H5N8 bird flu virus in Chiayi closely matches a strain detected in South Korea last year.
The H5N2 found in Yunlin and Pingtung counties is unlike all previous variants of H5N2, according to the COA.
Its H5 genome sequence is similar to the South Korean case, while the N2 most resembles a virus reported in China's Jilin province in 2011.
The two viruses were most likely transmitted by migratory birds, according to COA minister Chen Bao-ji.
