The possibility of tuberculosis (TB) making inroads into the Presidential Office is minimal, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director Chou Chih-hao (周志浩) denied a report in Chinese-language Next Magazine that speculated that the Presidential Office could become a hotbed for the disease because a truck driver employed by the office was confirmed to have been infected with TB.
The magazine report said the Presidential Office had been informed of the man’s condition on May 21, yet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) reportedly shook hands with the man during a “meet the staff” event five days later.
Chou said the health department had adopted the highest level of disease prevention and quarantine in handling the driver’s case because of the importance of the Presidential Office.
“Besides the driver’s family members, 74 staff members who had been in contact with him have been tested” and the test results were all negative, Chou said.
He said the driver had begun working at the Presidential Office in April. He went to see doctors four times because of persistent coughing, and tested positive for TB when his phlegm was examined during a fifth visit.
Unless individuals have close contact with an infected person in a poorly ventilated enclosed space for several hours, Chou said they are unlikely to catch TB.
Since the driver was a new employee and had basically worked outside of the office, the department believed there was little likelihood of top officials or staff being infected, Chou said.
Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said that the magazine’s report did not “conform to the truth.”
Wang also denied the claim that the Presidential Office had learned of the man’s condition on May 21. He said officials did not learn of the diagnosis until May 26 and then the building was immediately disinfected.
When Ma made his rounds to meet the building’s staff on May 26, the driver had already taken sick leave and had no contact with the president, Wang said. The driver had had no contact with any other ranking official, he said.
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