The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is considering heeding the WHO’s advice to screen people for monkeypox and administer vaccines once doses arrive.
Taiwan has stepped up prevention measures at its borders, and is in talks with global pharmaceutical companies to buy monkeypox vaccines and medication, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said yesterday.
The talks are progressing and the CDC expects the first shipment of vaccines to arrive next month, he said.
Photo: AFP
Chuang said he was not at liberty to divulge the amount being purchased, as the deal is still being negotiated.
The CDC is considering two options: administering the vaccines as a preventive measure to medical personnel who want to receive them, or inoculating medical personnel caring for people with monkeypox, as well as patients’ family and friends, Chuang said.
Asked whether the nation’s first imported monkeypox case has left quarantine, Chuang said that the person still has some scabs and would remain under observation for a few more days until all the scabs have peeled off.
Chuang on Tuesday night confirmed the nation’s second case of monkeypox.
The case is a man in his 30s living in northern Taiwan who traveled to the US for work from May to this month.
On July 3, he developed a fever, and his left testicle and the lymph nodes in his groin area started swelling. He sought medical attention on July 5 and was prescribed oral steroids.
However, the symptoms persisted and the man developed skin rashes and diarrhea, Chuang said.
He still has mild symptoms, mostly painful rashes on the face and torso, Chuang said, adding that he would remain in isolation until his blisters form scabs and fall off.
No one sat next to him on the flight to Taiwan, and the airline staff and quarantine officers were wearing protective clothing, so no one was placed under home isolation, he said.
Separately, the WHO yesterday announced that it would convene an extraordinary session next week to determine whether the monkeypox outbreak should be considered a threat to international health.
As of yesterday, 63 countries had reported more than 9,200 monkeypox cases, with Europe comprising 80 percent of all reported cases globally.
The US and Puerto Rico have reported a total of 760 cases.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ACCOUNTABILITY: The incident, which occured at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung, was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the 12th floor Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday. The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯). It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘LAWFUL USE’: The last time a US warship transited the Taiwan Strait was on Oct. 20 last year, and this week’s transit is the first of US President Donald Trump’s second term Two US military vessels transited the Taiwan Strait from Sunday through early yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, the first such mission since US President Donald Trump took office last month. The two vessels sailed south through the Strait, the ministry said, adding that it closely monitored nearby airspace and waters at the time and observed nothing unusual. The ministry did not name the two vessels, but the US Navy identified them as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit from