Taichung, Taiwan (October 25, 2025)— A pig farm in Wuqi District, Taichung, has been devastated by an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF), leading to the death and culling of nearly 200 pigs. Since last week, the farm reported the deaths of 117 pigs, prompting authorities to euthanize all 195 pigs on October 21 to contain the virus.
The farm’s owner, an 86-year-old pig farmer surnamed Chen, said with deep sorrow that this was the first time in his 35 years of pig raising that he had encountered such a catastrophe. “All the pigs are gone — my family is bankrupt,” Chen said. “We have no way to make a living now. My son even went out this morning to look for work.”
Chen explained that after three decades in the business, he had handed farm management over to his son about seven or eight years ago. The family had relied on kitchen waste feed, which they purchased for NT$0.5 to NT$1 per kilogram, to sustain their livestock. “We never thought African swine fever would hit us,” he said, adding that the outbreak wiped out their livelihood overnight. “We can’t recover from this — my son might have to go back to construction work just to survive.”
Chen’s son recalled that at first, only five or six pigs had died, but the number soon climbed to more than 20 in a single day. “We gave them medicine and thought the situation was under control,” he said, “but then they started dying again in large numbers. We are definitely not irresponsible farmers — we never meant to endanger Taiwan’s livestock industry.”
Local village chief Chen Kunting, a longtime neighbor of the family, confirmed that while the Chen family’s pig farm had occasionally drawn complaints for odor and wastewater issues, the community was sympathetic to their loss. “They’ve raised pigs for over 30 years,” he said. “No one expected African swine fever to strike here. They were just unlucky — it’s believed the infection came from contaminated kitchen waste.”
Authorities have since completed the culling and disinfection of the affected site to prevent further spread of the virus. The Chen family, however, says the tragedy has left them with no income and little hope of returning to pig farming.