Taipei: The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) on Friday announced that gene sequencing of Taiwan’s first African swine fever cases reveals a close relationship to strains originating from China and Vietnam.
According to Focus Taiwan, Deng Ming-chung, director-general of the MOA’s Veterinary Research Institute, stated at a news conference that the cases demonstrated a 99.95 percent and 99.92 percent similarity to recombinant strains from China and Vietnam, respectively. Deng highlighted that these results only show the arrangement of genes, and determining the exact source of the virus would require matching any differences to a known sequence. Without such a reference in existing gene databases, it remains challenging to pinpoint the origin, leaving authorities to indicate only an approximate source.
Deng also mentioned that Taiwan plans to submit the gene sequencing data to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) to fulfill its responsibility as a member of the international community. Du Li-hwa, director-general of the MOA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, added that while submitting gene sequencing data is not mandatory, it allows other countries to understand the current circulating strains.
The African swine fever cases were publicly confirmed on October 25 at a pig farm in Taichung’s Wuqi District.