In 2023, Taiwan and Paraguay established the “Paraguay African Swine Fever Diagnosis and Prevention Training Program”, a joint initiative aimed at preventing African swine fever outbreaks. This year (2024), Paraguay’s National Animal Quality and Health Control Services (SENACSA) cooperated with the Taiwan ICDF to host a training course focused on African swine fever diagnosis and prevention capacity building. The two parties jointly held the event in Paraguay from July 15th to 19th. Veterinary Medicine Professor Chao-Nan Lin from Taiwan’s National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) was invited to provide a series of lectures and the related courses. Distinguished guests to the event included Director José Carlos Martin of SENACSA, the president of pork export company INDUSTRIA FRIGORÍFICA (UPISA), and Taiwan’s Ambassador to Paraguay, Chih-Cheng Han. In one lecture entitled “The Current Situation of Taiwan’s Pig Rearing Industry and the Global Overview of African Swine Fever”, Professor Lin provided the attendees from industry, government, academia with valuable information about pig rearing practices and African swine fever prevention in Taiwan.
During the four-day program, training was provided to SENACSA laboratory testing personnel, Animal Husbandry Department personnel, slaughterhouse and food hygiene personnel, and sixth-year students of the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Asunción. More than 300 people attended the lectures. Professor Lin’s lively lecture style matched his lecture topics and he used real-world cases to make the concepts easier to follow. The NPUST professor was very well received by SENACSA staff and the university students.
After the lectures, Professor Lin met with Secretary Chieh-Han Yang of the Taiwan Embassy in Paraguay to discuss the implementation of the plan and ways to promote exchanges between the veterinary medicine departments in the two countries in the future. Taiwan has opened up to the import of Paraguayan pork since the end of 2022 and as of 2023 it has become the largest market for Paraguayan pork. The exchange and interaction that has resulted from the cooperation plan is creating new opportunities for businesses and more choice for consumers— but more importantly, it is helping to promote the production of safe and healthy food sources.
