The Center for Disease Control reported yesterday Taiwan's third case hit of atypical pneumonia, a potentially fatal disease, cases of which have now been found in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore and Canada.
The center said the World Health Organization reported yesterday increases in atypical pneumonia cases in Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada.
Chen Tsai-ching (陳再晉), the center's director-general, said in a press conference that the four cases in Canada were from the same family. "Three of them have traveled to Hong Kong and two of them have died," said Chen.
Chen added that no fatal cases have been reported in Hong Kong and Singapore.
According to the center, Taiwan's third case of atypical pneumonia was a 64-year-old female. An Ilan hospital reported the case to the center yesterday afternoon, Chen said.
"The patient, having been traveling in Guangdong Province between Feb. 23 and March 1, returned to Taiwan via Hong Kong. She began to have fever on March 7 and was hospitalized on March 13," Chen said.
The center reported the first two atypical pneumonia cases, a China-based Taiwanese businessman and his wife, on Friday.
According to Chen, the businessman suffers diffuse pneumonia and adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). "His wife and the third case's symptoms are relatively less severe," Chen said.
According to the center, the 54-year-old businessman had been traveling in Guangdong Province between Feb. 8 and 21. After returning to Taiwan on Feb. 23, he began to have fever on Feb. 25.
The businessman and his wife have been admitted to National Taiwan University Hospital.
The hospital said the couple has been quarantined. "They stay in a ward that has an independent air conditioning system. The air in the ward does not circulate to other areas of the hospital," a hospital press release said.
The hospital has also asked staff tending the couple to take strict precautionary measures such as wearing masks and caps and washing hands frequently.
According to the hospital, the businessman's situation has been deteriorating after he was hospitalized on March 8.
Although the center reported the couple as atypical pneumonia cases, the hospital described yesterday the couple's disease as "pneumonia plus ARDS."
The hospital said it could not verify whether the couple's disease was related to the atypical pneumonia cases in China, Vietnam and Hong Kong before results from the couple's saliva and blood tests were available.
Chen said various bacteria and viruses could cause atypical pneumonia.
"It is likely that a mutated virus has caused this tide of severe pneumonia," Chen said.
Chen excluded the possibility that the couple's illness is linked to bird flu and also said it was unlikely bacteria caused the disease.
"If bacteria caused the illness, antibiotics would be effective. However, the antibiotics doctors administered on the husband have not been effective in improving his situation," Chen said.
He also urged people to cancel unnecessary trips to countries where atypical pneumonia cases have been reported.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
RSS