Kaohsiung County reported its first confirmed case of indigenous dengue fever this summer yesterday.
County Health Bureau Director Huang Chih-chung (黃志中) said the patient was a middle-aged woman who lives in Tzukuan Township (梓官) and works in Kaohsiung City’s Nanzih District (楠梓).
Based on a preliminary investigation, it was unlikely that the infection originated at the woman’s home, Huang said, adding that Kaohsiung City had been informed of the case in hopes that its health bureau would carry out inspections and perform prevention work near her workplace, Huang said.
Kaohsiung City has reported 22 confirmed cases of indigenous dengue fever this year, with another 30 suspected cases awaiting confirmation, Huang said.
Huang urged the public and doctors to be on the alert against the disease and to empty standing water containers to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes, as the county’s Breteau index of dengue vector mosquito density tends to be high.
Huang said the county’s four townships have reached up to six or seven on the index as a result of Tropical Storm Kalmaegi, which swept through Taiwan late last week. A level three index is considered a dengue outbreak alert, with the situation worsening as the index rises.
Tainan City also faces a dengue threat, as the city’s 50 boroughs and districts showed a Breteau index level of three or higher, with 21 of them reading four or higher in an index survey conducted from June 15 to July 19, a Tainan City official said.
Tainan City also reported a case of dengue fever yesterday in a male professor at National Cheng Kung University.
The man began showing symptoms of dengue fever last Thursday and has since received medical treatment, the Tainan City official said, adding that further examination would help determine whether the man was infected with a new strain of virus.
Typical symptoms of dengue fever include headache, nausea, fatigue and joint soreness or pains, which could easily be mistaken for flu symptoms, the official said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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