With the south of the nation being battered by rain, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported a record-high number of dengue fever cases recorded in Tainan in the past week.
Thirty-eight new cases of locally acquired dengue fever were reported across the nation last week, of which 32 occurred in Tainan — primarily in the Northern (北) and Annan (安南) districts — the highest weekly number ever reported in the city, the centers said.
The centers said the city has also seen the highest number of dengue fever cases in the summer over the past eight years, with 71 cases so far since this summer.
“The significant increase could be due to the failure of some waste recycling plants to properly clean out their water containers,” the centers said.
Four of the other six cases were reported in Kaohsiung, with one each in Chiayi County and Taichung, the centers’ disease monitoring statistics showed.
In related news, in the face of a growing threat from the novel influenza A virus, the centers imported 900 tablets of antiviral compound Favipiravir from Japan on Wednesday last week in an effort to offer a new treatment option for patients resistant to more common drugs.
“The compound will be available to patients diagnosed with novel influenza A virus who are resistant to common flu medications Tamiflu and Relenza,” CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said.
Chou said there had only been one patient who fits that profile so far this month, while the imported drugs are enough to treat 22 people.
In addition, the centers urged the public to step up anti-mosquito measures, as Japanese encephalitis is also in its peak season, with a total of 21 people having contracted the mosquito-borne disease so far this year.
Two new cases were reported last week — a 57-year-old woman and a 59-year-old man — both of whom live in close proximity to a pig farm, pigeon loft, rice paddy or river, it said.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard