HEALTH
Rabies found in dog
The first case of rabies infection in dogs has been confirmed, the Central Epidemic Command Center for rabies said yesterday. The center was informed by the Animal Health Research Institute that a dog suspected to have been infected was sent to the institute by Taitung County’s animal disease control center on Monday and was later confirmed to have had rabies by the direct fluorescent antibody test and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The infected dog was a Taitung County resident’s pet, and was bitten by a rabid ferret-badger on Aug. 14 and sent to the county’s animal disease control center the next day to be placed under quarantine and observation. The dog started to exhibit loss of appetite and depression on Sept. 6, experienced paralysis of body parts on Sunday and was euthanized on the same day. The Council of Agriculture said that any warm-blooded animal can be infected with rabies and speculated that since the dog was only one-and-a-half-months-old and small, it was more susceptible to attacks by ferret-badgers. Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Director Chang Su-san (張淑賢) said that currently only those pet dogs that are aged three months or older can receive rabies vaccinations, so the puppy was not vaccinated.
DIPLOMACY
Japanese lawmaker visits
Japanese MP Shinjiro Koizumi of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has arrived in Taiwan with a large delegation to promote bilateral ties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. During a four-day trip that will wrap up tomorrow, Koizumi, the son of former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, is scheduled to meet with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and several Taiwanese lawmakers to discuss bilateral political, economic and security issues, the ministry said. The 97-member delegation, including 33 young lawmakers, will also visit the National Palace Museum and the 921 Earthquake Museum, the ministry said. In addition, the delegation will visit National Fire Agency officials to express gratitude for Taiwan’s relief assistance in the wake of the March 11, 2011, earthquake. Shinjiro Koizumi was also scheduled to attend a professional baseball game in New Taipei City (新北市) last night, where he was to throw the first pitch, the ministry said. The 32-year-old lawmaker, who was elected to Japan’s lower house in 2009, has been the head of his party’s youth division since 2011. This was the first time the LDP has sent a large delegation to Taiwan since the party returned to power in December last year, the ministry said.
CULTURE
Hualien set for music fest
Music lovers can look forward to a strong lineup of original music shows when the Orig Sound Music Festival starts in Hualien on Saturday. Twenty-one original music singers and bands from Taiwan and abroad will perform, the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. Among the scheduled acts are US trumpeter and Grammy award winner Chris Botti, Japanese jazz saxophonist and flutist Kaori Kobayashi and Taiwanese Aboriginal a cappella singing group the O-Kai Singers. Other local artists and groups, including post-rock band Sugar Plum Ferry, Aboriginal singer-songwriter Panai and the band Chalaw & Passiwali, which combines Aboriginal music with Latin rhythms and rock sensibilities, will also offer fresh spins on local music. The festival will run until Sept. 22 at the Hualien Cultural and Creative Industries Park and will also include exhibitions, lectures and a food and crafts market.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching