A Swiss pharmaceutical giant said yesterday it had a swine flu vaccine ready for trial as governments stepped up precautions to counter the newly declared influenza pandemic.
While millions could catch the flu, governments and health experts around the world have sought to play down fears that the A(H1N1) virus, also known as swine flu, could become a major killer.
Swine flu has so far infected almost 30,000 people in 74 countries and claimed 145 lives since it was first detected in Mexico in April, WHO figures showed.
Novartis stole a march on competitors by announcing it had completed a first batch of vaccine for pre-clinical trials. A spokesman said it hoped to have a vaccine in production by September or October.
The UN health agency raised its global alert to a maximum six on Thursday, saying it had reached pandemic status because of its geographical spread.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍) said the declaration of a “moderate” pandemic should not spark panic and did not mean the A(H1N1) death toll would rise sharply.
She said raising the alert “means that the world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century.”
The WHO said it would ask drugmakers to quickly prepare to produce swine flu vaccines once the production of seasonal flu vaccine ends.
Mexico has been the worst hit. Its government on Thursday increased the country’s death toll to 109 with 6,294 A(H1N1) infections. The US comes next. Its health authorities have reported 27 deaths and 13,217 cases.
Australia, the worst hit in the Asia-Pacific region, was considering raising its national flu alert and adopting powers to cancel sports events, restrict travel and even shut national borders, although officials stressed extreme measures were unlikely.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the country had prepared well but faced problems because of the number of people who travel abroad. Australia has 1,307 confirmed cases including four in intensive care.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique