Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 1/26/15

Beginning Saturday, all poultry slaughterhouses in Taiwan stopped killing chickens, ducks and geese at the nation's 100 slaughterhouses, according to Focus Taiwan.

The move, announced Friday by the Council of Agriculture, is designed to stem a growing outbreak of avian influenza.

The four-day slaughter ban began at noon Saturday and will continue through noon Wednesday to allow for disinfection of all the nation’s slaughterhouses, according to the report.

It is the second such ban this month. The council enforced a two-day ban on goose and duck slaughter Jan. 12-14.

Nearly 400 farms across Taiwan have been infected with strains of the virus, including a new version of H5N2 – the first of its kind in the world.

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