The Ministry of Agriculture says Taiwan has restored its status as a
self-declared African swine fever-free area with the World Organisation for
Animal Health.

The ministry says the move means that Taiwan is again the only country in
Asia free of foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever, and African swine
fever.

The World Organisation for Animal Health recognized Taiwan's self-declaration
of freedom from African swine fever in May of last year, with the country
becoming the first in Asia to hold disease-free status for all three swine
diseases.

That ended last October, when the agriculture ministry reported Taiwan's
first-ever A-S-F case in a farm in Taichung.

The case was formally closed and reported the World Organisation for Animal
Health on January 23 of this year after the affected farm was cleaned and
disinfected and all samples came back negative.

The Ministry of Agriculture says it submitted an application on February 21
this year to regain self-declared A-S-F-free status.