It is possible that SARS will resurface in this country, but the chances of a major outbreak of the killer atypical pneumonia are slim given experience accumulated in fighting the disease, Academia Sinica's vice president said yesterday.
Taiwan's achievements over the past year in the research and development of anti-SARS vaccines, SARS treatment medication as well as SARS virus identifying techniques were commendable, researcher Michael Lai (賴明詔) said.
Lai, reputed to be the father of coronavirus research and who studied the virus for more than 20 years in the US before assuming his job in Taiwan, made the remarks during a speech entitled "The Challenges of Viruses to Modern Societies" at a regular monthly meeting at the President Office yesterday, which was presided over by President Chen Shui-bian (
Experiments on animals have shown that the coronavirus can survive in animals for several months without the animal showing any symptoms, Lai said, adding that the same situation might be true for humans.
This would mean that some people might be carrying the virus without developing the disease, but still be capable of spreading the disease to others, he said.
Genetic analyses conducted in China showed that at least three types of SARS viruses had "jumped" from different types of civets to humans over the past two years, Lai said, adding that this means that SARS viruses could jump to human beings again and again because SARS viruses are already "rooted" in civets.
Against this backdrop, Lai said, SARS could recur as long as the animals exist.
Although the virus can mutate over time, Lai said, it will not change too greatly, and the public can protect itself properly by following the precautionary measures worked out by health agencies in the country.
More than one year after Taiwan was battered by SARS, the country is better equipped and prepared for any war against the epidemic disease in the future, Lai said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
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