The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has ordered 190,000 doses of avian influenza vaccine to enhance the nation's flu-fighting capability amid renewed pandemic warnings, a senior official said yesterday.
According to CDC Deputy Director Chou Chih-hao (周志浩), the government decided to procure the vaccine from two foreign suppliers after a new resistant strain of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus deadly to humans and poultry was found to have spread through Asia.
Chou quoted a report by scientists in Hong Kong and the US as saying that the new virus -- dubbed the "Fujian-like" strain -- may have mutated in response to vaccination programs designed to halt the disease in farm flocks.
Noting that the strain emerged last year and has already spread throughout China as well as to Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos and Malaysia, the report said that the spread of this virus over such a large geographical region within a short period of time directly challenges current disease control measures.
Against this backdrop, Chou said the CDC has spent nearly NT$60 million (US$1.81 million) purchasing 190,000 doses of the vaccine against the H5N1 virus from two foreign companies.
The vaccine is 70 percent to 80 percent effective and has a shelf life of between six months and two years, Chou said.
Nevertheless, Chou added that although the vaccine has been proven safe and effective in preventing avian influenza in humans in initial clinical tests, it has not yet been approved for commercial sale.
Therefore, Chou said, the vaccine will be stockpiled for emergency epidemic control use or domestic clinical testing.
"Basically, only frontline medical and epidemic control personnel will get vaccinated," Chou said, adding that the vaccine will not be available to members of the public.
According to the procurement contracts, Chou said, the vaccine will be delivered by the end of this year.
"The vaccine will be ready for use if an avian flu outbreak occurs this winter," he said.
If each medical professional gets two doses of the vaccine, Chou said, the stockpile will be enough to cover 90,000 individuals, or one-third of the country's health care personnel.
Moreover, Chou said, the CDC has also kept in stock enough doses of Tamiflu -- an oral anti-viral drug for treatment of influenza -- for 2.3 million people, or 10 percent of the nation's population in accordance with the recommendation of the WHO.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to remain stable today, but cloudy to rainy skies are expected from tomorrow onward due to increasing moisture in the atmosphere, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Daytime highs today are expected to hit 25-27°C in western Taiwan and 22-24°C in the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, data on the CWA website indicated. After sunset, temperatures could drop to 16-17°C in most parts of Taiwan. For tomorrow, precipitation is likely in northern Taiwan as a cloud system moves in from China. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C, the CWA said. Starting Monday, areas
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
Taiwan has recorded its first fatal case of Coxsackie B5 enterovirus in 10 years after a one-year-old boy from southern Taiwan died from complications early last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. CDC spokesman Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a news conference that the child initially developed a fever and respiratory symptoms before experiencing seizures and loss of consciousness. The boy was diagnosed with acute encephalitis and admitted to intensive care, but his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away on the sixth day of illness, Lo said. This also marks Taiwan’s third enterovirus-related death this year and the first severe
RSS