A contract has been signed to purchase an antiviral used to treat monkeypox, with the drug expected to arrive next month at the earliest, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that negotiations for monkeypox vaccines are ongoing.
The WHO on Saturday declared a global monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
The centers said it would monitor the spread of the disease, while urging doctors to report suspected cases within 24 hours, as it has been listed as a category 2 notifiable infectious disease.
Photo: AFP
Ten suspected cases have been reported in Taiwan so far, while one Taiwanese who returned from Germany and one who returned from the US were confirmed to have monkeypox, the centers said.
People who experience suspected monkeypox symptoms should seek medical treatment immediately and report their travel history to a doctor, it added.
CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that the centers signed a contract to purchase Tecovirimat, an antiviral used to treat monkeypox, and a flight for its delivery is being arranged.
The amount of Tecovirimat purchased would be kept confidential for now, he said, adding that the drug would be administered to severe cases and people with a high risk of developing severe illness.
The centers is negotiating a procurement contract for the Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic vaccine, a third-generation smallpox vaccine that could be useful for preventing monkeypox, Chuang said, adding that it would hopefully arrive before the end of next month.
The centers said that as global monkeypox cases began escalating and were reported in neighboring countries last month, it listed monkeypox as a category 2 notifiable infectious disease on June 23, and invited experts to plan the procurement of antiviral drugs and vaccines, as well as establish a standard procedure for testing.
The centers on June 30 also issued a level 2 alert travel warning for 49 countries where local monkeypox cases or cases with unknown infection source had been reported.
A total of 16,836 cases have been confirmed in 74 countries or areas, from when the outbreak began in May to Friday, it said, adding that the outbreak is currently more prevalent in European countries and the US.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
RSS