Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川), head of the government’s H1N1 Flu Central Command Center, yesterday urged the public to “face the threat of the new H1N1 virus with knowledge and cooperation.”
“Some people have said that vaccines and medicine are what we can use [in the face of the threat] ... but these are auxiliary measures. More important is the public’s knowledge of the virus and its cooperation on public health [matters],” Yeh told a press conference following a weekly Cabinet meeting.
Checks at border control points could delay an outbreak of swine flu, Yeh said, but would not be sufficient to ensure there will be no cases in Taiwan.
PHOTO: WENG YU-HUANG, TAIPEI TIMES
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said people with the virus could be contagious one day before they begin to exhibit symptoms and possibly up to seven days following the illness’ onset.
“During the eight days [after a person is infected], that person could test negative for swine flu,” Yeh said.
“We hope the border screening will detect seven-eighths of potential cases,” he said.
Yeh called for the public’s full cooperation in monitoring possible swine flu cases.
The H1N1 virus could pose a greater risk than SARS, which struck Taiwan in 2003, Yeh said, but added that Taiwan was better prepared today.
“[In 2003,] we didn’t know how to examine the virus. We had no treatment for SARS, nor did we have a vaccine, but we managed to control SARS under the circumstances ... But now we know how to test for the H1N1 virus. We have a vaccine and medicine for the H1N1 virus,” Yeh said.
Asked whether Taiwan would stop pork imports, Yeh said the health ministers of 13 countries that had done so were “unprofessional.”
“[Stopping pork imports] was unnecessary. The WHO did not make any such suggestion ... Pigs are innocent. The virus has mutated into a new strain transmitted only among humans and thus pigs are irrelevant to the [outbreak],” he said.
At a separate setting yesterday, Chen Yu-chuan (陳玉娟) of Taipei Medical University Hospital’s Chinese Medicine Department advised the public to eat garlic, mushrooms and other foods with enzymes that boost metabolism and the immune system.
“Protein and vitamins A and C also help,” she said.
In related news, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said yesterday that in light of the outbreak, his ministry was re-evaluating President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) plans to visit Central American allies in June.
Ma plans to visit Central America from May 27 to June 4 to attend the inauguration of Salvadoran president-elect Mauricio Funes on June 1 and visit Guatemala and Honduras.
However, the outbreak has given rise to concerns about the president’s safety.
When asked at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee under what conditions the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would postpone the trip, Hsia said it would depend on the number of infections in the countries that Ma was scheduled to visit and whether any outbreaks were under control.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA AND JIMMY CHUANG
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