Sun, Apr 28, 2024 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  HEALTH

  One dies of food poisoning

  Another person died of last month’s food poisoning outbreak at the Xinyi branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, bringing the number of deaths to three, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said yesterday. As of Friday, 35 people were reported to have fallen ill after dining at the Xinyi restaurant from March 19 to 24, including two deaths reported late last month. The latest death was one of the four severe cases under intensive care. The patient died of multiple organ failure, Wang said. Taipei Medical University Hospital in a text message said that the patient was transferred to the hospital on March 24 and died yesterday. Wang said that the condition of the remaining three severe cases remains the same. One person has received a liver transplant and is in the process of recovering, while others have had severe infection, he added. It is clear that this incident is a case of bongkrek acid-led poisoning, Wang said.

  SEISMICITY

  Aftershocks normal: CWA

  An earthquake measuring magnitude 6.1 on the Richter scale that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan early yesterday is an aftershock of the April 3 Hualien earthquake that claimed at least 18 lives, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The quake, which struck at 2:21am, was the largest aftershock since a magnitude 6.3 earthquake rattled the eastern county early on Tuesday. People in 13 administrative regions received emergency alerts, the agency said. Two more aftershocks of stronger than magnitude 4.5 on the Richter scale followed the quake yesterday within half an hour, including one of magnitude 5.8 at 2:49am. Their epicenter was in Hualien County’s Sioulin Township (秀林), near the epicenter of the April 3 quake. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) said that large earthquakes tend to be followed by aftershocks over a long period. The CWA has observed no anomalies in terms of the aftershocks, he added. As of 6am yesterday, Taiwan has experienced 1,303 aftershocks since the April 3 quake, with six registering at least magnitude 6, and 63 between magnitudes 5 and 6, the CWA data showed.

  SCIENCE

  Bacterial strain discovered

  A research team from National Taiwan Ocean University’s (NTOU) Institute of Marine Biology has discovered a bacterial strain with the potential to degrade plastic, the university said in a statement on Monday. The team, led by assistant professor Ho Ying-ning (何攖寧), said that it has found a marine bacterial strain isolated from marine sediment on Taiwan’s northern coast, which they named Oceanimonas pelagia NTOU-MSR1. The bacterium, possibly a new member of the Oceanimonas genus, was able to biodegrade 10 to 15 percent of polyethylene, which is one of the most commonly used plastics worldwide, in 120 days. The strain was also able to produce a biosurfactant that emulsified 40 percent of diesel fuel within two weeks, the statement said. Genomic analysis of the bacteria showed genes associated with the biosynthesis of polyhydroxybutyrate, a substance considered a biodegradable plastic alternative, it added. Ho said the strain’s potential for environment restoration and commercial use would be explored with plans to use it in environmental protection. The findings were last month published in Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, an international scientific journal covering microbiology.
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