The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said 20 imported cases of dengue fever were reported last week, mostly from Southeast Asian countries, while the centers issued travel warnings for 57 countries and territories over the Zika virus.
The dengue cases involved seven people from the Philippines, four from Indonesia, three from Singapore, two from Cambodia and one each from Malaysia, Thailand, the Maldives and Laos, it said.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center director Liu Ting-ping (劉定萍) said that with dengue epidemics in Southeast Asia at a peak or rising and many people traveling abroad in summer, the centers urges people to take precautionary measures against mosquito bites and see a doctor if symptoms arise after entering Taiwan.
No confirmed cases of Japanese encephalitis were reported last week and the number of reported cases has dropped slightly, but the mosquito-borne disease is still at its peak in Taiwan, she said.
The WHO on Wednesday last week said that 67 countries and territories had reported evidence of vector-borne Zika virus transmission since last year.
Liu said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday last week confirmed active local transmission of the Zika virus in a section of Miami Beach, in addition to an area in Wynwood, both in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and urged pregnant women to avoid traveling to the areas.
She said that among the five locally transmitted cases confirmed in the Miami Beach areas, one was a 44-year-old woman from Taiwan, who visited Florida on a business trip between July 31 and Aug. 11, and the centers have taken measures to avoid the virus from spreading.
“People who have been in those areas since mid-July and are experiencing symptoms should see a doctor for an examination and tell the doctor about their travel history,” Liu said, adding that many cases of Zika infection do not show clear symptoms.
The Taiwanese agency has issued travel warnings for nations and territories with active Zika transmission.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
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