Thu, Feb 04, 2016 page4

• CDC to intensify Zika preventative measures

  WEAK SPOT? The CDC said it would increase screening and public awareness, but KMT Legislator Arthur Chen said that local governments must also be involved

  • By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter, with CNA
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  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that it would intensify surveillance and preventative measures against the Zika virus, as the outbreak has continued to spread in Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.

  CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said that the agency would intensify an information campaign and screening measures against Zika at airports and checks for mosquitoes on flights bound for Southeast Asia.

  Chou unveiled the plan a day after the agency established an epidemic command center to combat the Zika virus.

  Chou said that according to information collected by the center, 254 Taiwanese in 13 tour groups organized by four travel agencies are scheduled to visit Central and South America during the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday that begins on Saturday, and the CDC has communicated with the travel agents to provide information, such as leaflets and posters, at airports in Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung.

  The CDC has warned travelers to take precautions against mosquito bites if they travel to affected areas, and has recommended that pregnant women put off traveling to such areas.

  It will also intensify fever screening at airports for inbound passengers from Zika-affected areas.

  The epidemic command center is set to hold a panel meeting tomorrow to discuss epidemic prevention measures.

  The center was established on Tuesday after the WHO declared the virus a serious threat and a “public health emergency of international concern.”

  The mosquito-borne disease has been associated with a spike in birth defects and neurological syndromes, according to the WHO.

  The CDC has issued a travel alert for Central and South America and the Caribbean, the second-highest advisory in its three-tier system.

  It has also issued a travel watch, its lowest advisory, for Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and the Maldives.

  The Zika virus is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, which also transmits dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever, Chou said, adding that the symptoms of a Zika infection include mild fever, joint and muscle pain, headache, pain behind the eyes and a rash.

  Separately yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Arthur Chen (陳宜民), who is also the vice president of Kaohsiung Medical University, called on the central government to include t local governments in its disease-prevention efforts because southern Taiwan would bear the brunt of the mosquito-borne infection should it enter the nation.

  “It is a pity that the measures proposed by the CDC, from what I have seen in its press release, are mostly about applying established formulas, such as keeping the virus out of the border and reporting suspicious cases. However, a more important step, I think, is simulation,” Chen told a news conference at the legislature. “Once the virus enters Taiwan, it would be central and southern Taiwan where the mosquito vectors are more likely to grow due to the warmer weather … it would therefore be a serious problem if the local governments’ participation [in the disease-prevention effort] is lacking.”

  He said that central government agencies should not be the only ones to be included in the structure of the command center, as it is now according to the information provided by the CDC.

  “The Tainan and Kaohsiung health departments should also be listed and participate in the preparation,” Chen said. “In the past two years, we have seen that dengue fever spread has become an annual phenomenon in southern Taiwan, especially when we are now experiencing global warming.”

  “I’m from Kaohsiung Medical University, and we could see that the mosquito vectors are always there and the dengue fever cases are still being sent [to the hospital.]” he said. “So once the Zika virus gets into our network of vectors and spreads in our environment, [Taiwan] would become an endemic area.”
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