日治初期臺灣家畜疫病預防政策之試行──以海港獸類檢疫為中心（1896－1911）

Animal Disease Prevention in Taiwan Under Japanese Colonial Rule: Assessing the Effectiveness of Seaport Animal Quarantines (1896-1911)

本文旨在以海港獸類檢疫為中心，探討日治初期臺灣家畜疫病預防政策實施之實況，究明當時臺灣家畜疫病預防制度之特色。由「臺灣獸疫預防規則」規定可知，日治初期臺灣家畜疫病預防的基本構想，與當時日本國內相似，特別重視如何防遏外來病毒之入侵。因此，針對清國（中國大陸）進口的生豬帶來豬疫之威脅，臺灣總督府十分重視海港檢疫工作。「臺灣獸疫預防規則」實施之初，總督府雖進行各種家畜疫病預防之宣導，似乎一時並未收到顯著的成效。海港獸類（家畜）檢疫因有臺灣家畜保險株式會社的協助，而得以順利推動，有效地阻遏自清國進口生豬帶來的疫病。另一方面，針對自日本進口生豬，最初總督府僅於病毒有入侵之虞時才實施限地區及時期的特別檢疫，隨著日本的進口生豬逐漸變為經常性進口且進口數不斷增加時，也開始比照清國生豬一體實施常態性檢疫，成功地遏堵病毒侵入的威脅。要之，日治初期海港獸類檢疫對預防外來病毒入侵扮演十分重要的角色。

This paper examines seaport animal quarantine policies in Taiwan during the early years of Japanese colonial rule, the purpose of the paper being to determine the effectiveness of these policies in preventing the arrival of harmful viruses from abroad. As can be seen in the provisions of the Regulations for the Prevention of Animal Diseases of Taiwan, animal disease prevention in Taiwan during the early years of Japanese colonial rule mirrored policies that were then practiced in Japan, where particular emphasis was placed on containing the intrusion of viruses from abroad. In order to prevent animal diseases from being brought by live pigs from China, the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan attached great importance to the work of seaport quarantine. In spite of these efforts, and in spite of the publicity campaign launched by the Governor-General Office, initial results appear to have been unsuccessful. Gradually, however, thanks to the help provided by the Taiwan Livestock Insurance Co., Ltd., seaport animal quarantine efforts began to achieve better results, and contagious diseases brought by live pigs imported from China were effectively halted. On the other hand, live pigs imported from Japan were at first only checked sporadically, at specific times and at specific places, only when there was a concern that virus intrusions could harm human health. But as live pigs began to be imported from Japan on a regular basis, and as the number increased, the government began to impose routine quarantines on them, just as it did with live pigs imported from China. As a result of these efforts, the threat of foreign virus intrusions diminished significantly. In a nutshell, the seaport animal quarantine in the early years of Japanese colonial rule played a significant role in preventing virus intrusions from abroad.