People traveling abroad this summer should protect themselves against mosquito-borne diseases such as chikungunya fever and dengue fever, which have been on the rise in recent months, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warned yesterday.
All confirmed cases of chikungunya fever in Taiwan this year have been imported from Myanmar (three cases), the Maldives (three), Indonesia (two), Thailand (one), the Philippines (one) and Malaysia (one), the centers said, citing data from Monday last week.
The global outbreak of chikungunya fever has been severe this year, with Thailand reporting 4,500 cases, the Maldives nearly 1,300 cases, Malaysia 283 and Singapore 21, the centers said, citing data from June and early July.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
In Brazil, more than 66,000 possible cases of chikungunya fever had been reported as of June 8, while about 10,000 cases had been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as of June 9, the centers said.
So far this year, there have been 225 confirmed cases of imported dengue fever in Taiwan, the highest total for the January-to-June period in 10 years, with more than 90 percent of the cases coming from Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries, the centers said.
The centers in June issued a level 1 travel advisory for Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Myanmar and India, because there were 6,800 confirmed cases of dengue fever in those countries.
A level 1 advisory warns travelers that precautions must be taken when visiting the counties listed, including obtaining relevant vaccines and ensuring protection against mosquito bites.
According to the WHO Web site, chikungunya fever and dengue fever are viral mosquito-borne diseases that can produce flu-like symptoms.
Chikungunya fever is frequently accompanied by fatigue and joint pain, the WHO said.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
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