Seven more suspected cases of H7N9 avian influenza were reported in Taiwan as of yesterday morning, of which three were detected at an airport and later given the all-clear, while four were detected at hospitals, with three still waiting for test results, the Central Epidemic Command Center said.
Three passengers arriving from China’s H7N9-affected areas showed influenza-like symptoms, but were later found not to have the H7N9 infection, the center said.
Of the four people others displayed influenza-like symptoms, one tested negative for the H7N9 bird flu virus, while results for the others were still being processed.
Photo: CNA
To date, 27 suspected cases have been reported in Taiwan and none, except the three unconfirmed cases, have tested positive for the H7N9 virus, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said.
Meanwhile, Presidential Office spokesperson Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) quoted President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as saying that the government had put in place the necessary epidemic prevention measures and urged the public to remain calm, but vigilant.
“The H7N9 avian influenza strain poses a health threat to the public and President Ma is gravely concerned about the outbreak [in China]. The president has instructed the Executive Yuan to pay close attention to developments and is scheduled to personally inspect the Central Epidemic Command Center,” Lee said.
Lee said that the H7N9 outbreak was discussed during a meeting between Ma, Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) yesterday morning.
In the face of the threat posed by the H7N9 bird flu virus, the Department of Health has implemented necessary prevention measures and designated the virus as a category 5 notifiable disease, Lee quoted Ma as saying, adding that the president believed that these measures were enough to reassure the public.
“Outbreaks of SARS and bird flu have in the past severely impacted the nation, but the government will draw on the experiences learned from those painful incidents in confronting H7N9,” Lee quoted Ma as saying.
“The government will fight off the disease as it would our enemies and will be on full alert,” she quoted Ma as saying.
Later yesterday, the command center reminded travelers going to China to avoid any contact with poultry and to ensure that chickens, ducks and geese (eggs included) are thoroughly cooked before consumption.
Apart from maintaining personal hygiene, if travelers to China display influenza-like symptoms, they should notify the relevant airline company and disease inspection staff at the point of entry, the command center said.
Tour guides and escorts are obligated by the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法) and Regulations Governing Quarantine at Ports (港埠檢疫規則) to report to the health authorities if tour members develop influenza-like symptoms while traveling, the command center said.
A list with all the tour members’ names, contact information and the accommodation schedule should also be provided to help health authorities’ track the disease, the command center said.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
RSS