The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Wednesday confirmed the nation’s first two imported cases of measles — two men who tested positive for the disease after returning from Vietnam and the Philippines.
The two men, both from northern Taiwan, started experiencing symptoms of measles on Monday and Tuesday last week, and developed a skin rash on Friday last week, the CDC said in a statement.
As of Wednesday, one man was at home resting, while the other was still undergoing treatment at a hospital, the CDC said.
One of the men had contact with 118 people, some of whom were at his company’s year-end banquet at a restaurant in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) on Saturday last week, CDC Deputy Director General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said in an interview.
The people who sat near the man at the banquet would be monitored for any signs of measles, Lo said.
The other man, who had contact with 216 people, would also be monitored until Feb. 2, when the incubation period for the measles virus would have passed, Lo said.
Some of the places the two men visited over the past week were a congee restaurant in New Taipei City’s Banqiao District (板橋) at about 7:30pm on Monday last week and a vegetarian restaurant in Banqiao District at 6:30pm on Friday, the CDC said.
People who were in those places at those times are advised to wear a mask and seek medical attention if they develop symptoms such as fever, rhinitis, pink eye, coughing and a red rash within 18 days, Lo said.
From 2015 to this year, there were 91 confirmed cases of measles in the nation, 33 of which were contracted abroad, CDC data showed.
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