Taiwan contains first African swine fever outbreak but challenges for the pork industry remain

Taiwan has lifted a 15-day nationwide ban on pig transport following an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF).

Taiwan's containment of the outbreak averted a full-blown crisis, but the country has lost its ASF-free status, which was approved by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). The outbreak reignited concerns about the resilience and modernization of Taiwan's pork sector.

Dr. Lee Shu-hwae (李淑慧) from the School of Veterinary Medicine, National Taiwan University, told TCN that during an island-wide ban on pig transport and slaughter 15 days following the outbreak, Taiwan surprised the world by how it successfully contained the disease to a single case, and that foreign experts were amazed by Taiwan’s swift response.

She said that Taiwan’s positive response was due to the industry and the general public cooperating with government regulations, since Taiwanese people remember the past hardships of facing foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).

Outbreak

When Taiwan's Ministry of Agriculture confirmed in late October that a farm in central Taichung tested positive for ASF, people online discussed who should be blamed and worried about what would happen next. Pork is a staple of Taiwanese cuisine, and makes up the lion's share of the country's agricultural production.

On Oct. 22, the government imposed an island-wide ban on pig transport and slaughter, a move taken in past epidemics. The ASF virus, which is lethal to pigs but harmless to humans, had already decimated herds across Asia, and the threat of it spreading to Taiwan raised concerns of economic devastation and export isolation.

October to November

Following initial reports, inspectors from Taiwan's Agriculture and Plant Health Inspection Agency fanned out to trace distribution chains, test surrounding farms, and destroy potentially contaminated meat. The tracing process was conducted in collaboration with the Taichung City Government.

Border quarantine was implemented, and customs tightened X-ray screening of inbound goods. Taiwan's premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told reporters that the X-ray inspection rate was 100 percent.

Cho also stated that law enforcement would work to combat illegal meat and smuggling operations. At the beginning of the outbreak, Taiwan suspended the issuance of certificates for exports of live pigs, pig semen, and fresh pork products.

Within days of the Oct. 22 onslaught, Deputy Agriculture Minister Tu Wen-jane (杜文珍) said that recent field inspections and monitoring efforts had found no additional outbreaks elsewhere in Taiwan, per Radio Taiwan International. She emphasized that ASF does not infect humans and that no food safety concerns have been identified, urging the public to remain calm amid this trying time.

The Ministry of Agriculture stated at a press conference that Taiwan had reported to the (WOAH) and notified international trade partners while suspending pork exports. Environmental units scrutinized farms that feed pigs with leftover food waste.

After consecutive rounds of negative tests and reviews, Taiwan's government declared the outbreak contained and lifted the 15-day transport ban in early November. Starting from Nov. 7, slaughterhouses and livestock auctions resumed under heightened biosecurity protocols.

As the 15-day pig transport ban was lifted, Agriculture Minister Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) maintained that the particular farm of the ASF outbreak in Taichung should refrain from raising pigs, per the Central News Agency. He also stated, while talking to the media, that even though restrictions have been lifted, the government would not relax its epidemic prevention efforts and that it would continue to monitor all pigs entering the wholesale market.


Voices on the ground

On Nov. 8, Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) shared a video of himself consuming numerous typical Taiwanese pork cuisines and pork dishes. In the video, he acknowledged that the recent efforts to prevent the spread of ASF had indeed placed strain on farmers, the pork industry, market vendors, and the public at large.

Now that the ban has been lifted, fresh local pork has returned to stalls and shelves, he said, people can once again enjoy Taiwan's signature produce with confidence. Lai further urged continued vigilance in safeguarding the island's livestock health, reminding the public not to mail or bring in pork products from abroad.

He also expressed hope that Taiwanese pork will soon regain its foothold in international markets, pledging that the government will remain committed to epidemic prevention.

Pan Lien-chou (潘連周), the Chairman of the ROC Swine Association, stated in late October, when he came to the Legislative Yuan to discuss government reactions concerning the disease outbreak, that the Taichung City Government had failed in its duties. The Liberty Times reported that he further said that this outbreak posed a huge threat to Taiwan's pig farming industry, and the Taichung City Government bears a great deal of responsibility for the whole incident.

He further stated that Taiwan could not afford to bear yet another outbreak of ASF. If that happens, he said, the entire pig farming industry in Taiwan would likely collapse, and there would be no more "Taiwanese pigs" left.

Thus, he said he has called on pig farmers across Taiwan to travel north to Taipei on Dec. 4 to protest against the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment, opposing their intended policy of restarting the use of kitchen waste for pig feeding, a plan he believes may cause another ASF outbreak in the future.

Another pig farmer from Pingtung, Lee, at a rally protesting against the government's decision to restart the use of kitchen waste for pig feeding, told reporters that even this one case in October caused so much chaos in Taiwan for consecutive days, and that he could not imagine the consequences if it happened in an area with a high density of pig farms.

Dr. Lee Shu-hwae told TCN that feeding pigs with kitchen waste may result in not only ASF but also classic swine fever, and that the industry was already against this practice in 2018, when ASF broke out in other places in Asia. She further used Yunlin, a county that prohibited such practice in 2018, as an example that, regardless of industry practices in the past, such a transition could, in fact, be done.

Chen, a restaurant owner in Taipei, told TCN on Nov. 11 that, however the world changes, people must eat to survive and that pork is an irreplaceable part of Taiwan's diet.

Before the ban was lifted, vendors in central Taiwan, where ASF broke out, replaced their pork with chicken, beef, and mushrooms for typical Taiwanese cuisines traditionally associated with pork. These "alternative" or "creative" dishes attracted gourmets and also generated positive traction on social media, with people commenting that the ASF outbreak may become a breakthrough for these vendors.


A brief history of Taiwan's pork industry

The BBC reported that Taiwan is home to around 5,600 pig farms and produces more than 800,000 metric tons of pork annually. Exports of processed pork products reached about 100,000 tons last year, and the industry is worth over NT$100 billion (approximately US$3.22 billion). The island nation has suffered severe economic losses from previous livestock epidemics.

Taiwan's "Wealth Magazine" wrote that Taiwan was once the world's second-largest pork exporter, second only to Denmark. It further stated that before a foot and mouth disease FMD outbreak in Taiwan in 1997, there were 10.7 million pigs raised in Taiwan, one pig for every two Taiwanese people. Conversely, there were only 5.5 million pigs in 2019.

Since Taiwan was removed from the WOAH list of FMD-affected areas in 2020, its annual export volume has been increasing year by year. Concerning the specific ASF disease, Taiwan had been successful in preventing its outbreak before October 2025.

Prior to the outbreak in late October, Taiwan was officially recognized by WOAH on May 29 as free of classical swine fever. According to a press release by the government of Taiwan, Taiwan became the first and only country in Asia to become free of ASF, classical swine fever, and FMD in May. According to the Ministry of Agriculture's statistics, Taiwan’s pork industry is overwhelmingly oriented toward the domestic market. 

Directorate General of Budget specialist Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) noted that the incident's impact on retail prices remained limited, since even when fresh pork was unavailable under the 15-day ban period, frozen pork has remained widely accessible. He said that the price for frozen pork held steady, and neither chicken nor beef showed notable fluctuations from substitution effects. Tsao emphasized that the overall impact on CPI is expected to be minimal, per Economic Daily News.

However, according to government statistics, the CPI for essential consumer goods in October rose by 2.73%, marking the largest increase in nearly 20 months. Among them, pork rose by 9.07%, a figure that Tsao said would stabilize in November after the ban was lifted.

Taiwan's Ministry of Agriculture said in November that, following a period of three months with zero cases, Taiwan could once again apply for the WOAH-recognized status of being a non-affected area.

Dr. Lee Shu-hwae told TCN that some view Taiwan's swift response in containing the disease to a single case in a positive light, as Taiwan could use this incident to improve its biosecurity and upgrade its industry.