Deputy Minister of Agriculture Du Wen-zhen says tests have identified
unsterilized food waste as the likely source of last month's African swine
fever outbreak at a pig farm in Taichung's Wuqi District.

The investigation into the outbreak had ruled out people, vehicles and pigs
from outside the farm as possible sources of infection.

And the deputy agriculture minister says researchers now believe the most
likely source was food waste that had been improperly sterilized before it
was fed to pigs on the farm.

The African Swine Fever Forward Command Center said the latest investigation
report says pigs on the farm fed food waste died at a significantly higher
rate than those given regular animal feed ...

.. and another pig farm, which obtained its food waste from the same source,
but properly sterilized it, had no positive cases among its pigs.

The center says pig farmers were granted permits to use food waste, but had
to upload photos showing that it had been sterilized at above 90 degrees for
at least one hour, and it appears those rules were not strictly enforced.

The farm in Wuqi where the A-S-F cases occurred is currently being
investigated by prosecutors for not submitting any documentation of food
waste sterilization from May through September.

It's owner is also believed to have submitted multiple photos in October with
fake dates for the previous months.