Travelers to Southeast Asia for the Water Festival in April are advised to take mpox vaccines ahead of their trip after three confirmed cases of mpox-triggered respiratory infections were reported in Thailand, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
Aside from Thailand, the Water Festival is also celebrated in Laos, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia and among the Dai people in China.
Thailand last month reported to the WHO three confirmed cases of the clade 1b strain of mpox, the CDC said. The three cases were females aged 30 to 40 who showed symptoms of the disease on their flight back to Thailand from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it said.
Photo: AFP
Thai health officials confirmed that the tourists had come in close contact with people infected with the clade 1b strain while traveling in the UAE and began tracing contacts with the tourists after they returned to Thailand, the CDC said.
As the mpox cases continue to emerge while Thailand is set to celebrate the Water Festival from April 13 to April 15, the CDC advised tourists who are headed to the Southeast Asian nation to take mpox vaccines, which would protect them from the clade I and clade II strains.
A complete vaccination against mpox requires two doses with a four-week interval, and protection from the vaccines does not begin until two weeks after inoculation, the CDC said.
As such, travelers are advised to receive mpox vaccines six weeks before traveling, it said.
Taiwan has since June 23, 2022, listed mpox as Category 2 notifiable epidemic disease.
As of Monday, the nation has recorded 454 mpox cases: 426 locally transmitted cases and 28 imported cases, CDC data showed.
Separately, travelers to South Korea must place portable chargers and battery packs for electronic devices in separate, resealable plastic bags and put them in carry-on luggage, which cannot be placed in overhead bins on flights, the Korea Tourism Organization said on Tuesday.
Each resealable bag must contain only one charger or one battery pack, the organization said, adding that all chargers must be covered with insulating tape or protective covers.
Travelers can carry no more than five power banks of up to 100 watt-hour (Wh) or two between 100Wh and 160Wh, it said. The latter must also have airline labels before passengers carry them on board, it said.
The use of portable chargers is prohibited when the flight is taking off or landing, and devices must be turned off, it added.
The new flight safety policy was announced after a fire on an Air Busan flight on Jan. 28.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS