The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday confirmed the nation’s first Zika virus infection, imported from Thailand, and issued a level 2 alert for Central and South America and a level 1 “watch” for six Southeast Asian nations.
A man living in northern Thailand who was visiting Taiwan for the first time was asked to submit to an examination because he showed fever symptoms on arrival at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport on Jan. 10.
A blood test showed he did not have dengue fever, but did have the Zika virus.
Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Liu Ting-ping (劉定萍) said one of the man’s two colleagues traveling with him reported having a sore throat and headache, while the other person had a mild sore throat and sputum discharge, but both of their symptoms were relieved and test results for dengue and Zika were negative.
The Zika patient is in a stable condition and recovering, five other people living with the person and 10 colleagues were found to have no symptoms indicating infection and the CDC has investigated and disinfected the Zika patient’s living environment, Liu said.
Liu said an outbreak of Zika virus in Central and South America has spread rapidly since the second half of last year, with indigenous cases reported in Africa’s Cape Verde and sporadic imported cases reported in Europe and the US.
As for Asia, infections have been reported in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, she said, adding that exported cases from Malaysia, Thailand, the Maldives and Indonesia to other countries were recorded from 2013 to last year.
CDC Director-General Steve Kuo (郭旭崧) said Zika virus has been added to the nation’s notifiable infectious diseases, so doctors should report any suspected cases within 24 hours.
The CDC advised pregnant women to put off travel to areas where the virus is reported to be spreading and to take precautionary measures if they cannot avoid visiting those areas.
The CDC also said that 22 cases of severe complications and three deaths caused by influenza were reported last week, adding that H1N1 infection is the most common type to be reported recently.
Liu said the nation’s flu epidemic is getting worse, with outpatient visits related to influenza reported last week increasing from the week before and emergency visits about the same as a week earlier.
Since the outbreak of influenza in July last year, 218 cases of severe flu complications and 37 flu-related deaths have been confirmed, she said.
CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said the majority of reported flu infections recently were of the H1N1 virus, but the agency has discovered that the virus has changed relative to a vaccine strain.
Four strains of mutated H1N1 virus were found last week, which might affect vaccine effectiveness, Liu said.
Chou said no drug-restraint strains have been detected so far and the agency has asked doctors to increase awareness by prescribing influenza treatment covered by the National Health Insurance program to eligible patients as soon as possible to reduce the risks of developing severe complications.
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