TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – After Taiwan issued a 15-day ban on transporting, slaughtering, and feeding pigs with kitchen waste in an effort to suppress a suspected African swine fever outbreak, the environment ministry warned Friday that anyone breaking the ban faced a fine of NT$3 million (US$97,000).

The suspected outbreak was found Wednesday at a farm in Taichung’s Wuqi District. The World Organization for Animal Health recognized Taiwan in May as one of the few countries in Asia free from classical swine fever, African swine fever, and foot-and-mouth disease.

While it is too early to determine whether feeding pigs with kitchen waste was involved in the Taichung case, the Ministry of Environment said Friday there was a complete ban on transporting kitchen waste to pig farms, per CNA. The waste needs to be disposed of at predetermined locations to be recycled, incinerated, or buried, otherwise a NT$3 million fine will be levied.

The ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs will be reviewed every five days, and if after 15 days, the suspected African swine fever has not spread, it might be lifted, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The fever has an incubation period of 15 days. Local governments are allowed to extend preventive measures.

The authorities said that as the African swine fever cannot be transmitted from animals to people, there is no food safety problem. There will be checks on all 435 hog farms using kitchen waste as feed to see if they follow the rules, officials said.