The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported three new measles cases linked to a hospital cluster in central Taiwan, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the cluster to 19.
The CDC emphasized that the infections remain confined to hospital contacts with no evidence of the outbreak spreading.
In the three new cases, a woman in her 30s, a man in his 20s and a man in his 40s developed symptoms between Wednesday last week and Monday, with rashes developing from Friday last week to Tuesday, a CDC statement said.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
All three new cases had been previously identified as close contacts, the CDC said, adding that the woman and the man in his 20s are medical personnel at the hospital — which has not been disclosed by authorities — and the man in his 40s visited a family member in the same ward, a previously confirmed case.
Regarding the route of transmission in the hospital cluster, CDC Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said the index case — the first documented person in the cluster — traveled back from Vietnam on Dec. 1 last year.
The man developed a fever on the same day, visited the emergency department on Dec. 2 and was subsequently admitted to a hospital ward, he said.
“It wasn’t until Dec. 5 that the patient began to develop a rash, and a suspected measles diagnosis was made on Dec. 6, leading to [the patient’s] transfer to an isolation ward,” he said.
Chuang said that all 17 people infected at the hospital had received measles vaccines.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
RSS