TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday demanded poultry business owners who are suffering from flu symptoms to seek medical treatment immediately and notify the hospital of their profession so that the relevant authorities can conduct H7N9 influenza inspections more easily.Huang Guo-ching (黃國青), the deputy director of the COA, said that the council will also double the number of random inspections on migratory birds and fowl from 12,000 to 24,000 annually.
“H7N9 does not produce any symptoms in fowl, so the COA is taking more precautions to prevent a potential influenza outbreak,” Huang said.
“The COA would also like to ask poultry business owners to go to a doctor immediately when they start to show flu symptoms, instead of waiting until the condition worsens,” the deputy director added.
“It is important to let medical personnel know that the patient is in the poultry business so that they can run a test to verify if the patient is suffering from H7N9,” Huang said.
The COA can also track the source and make sure if the location in which the patient keeps poultry or fowl contains the H7N9 influenza virus, according to Huang.
Poultry-related businesses, Huang added, include people who keep, transport, cook, or sell fowl and poultry...
