The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday placed a record-high of more than 1,500 people on a monitoring list in response to a recent confirmed case of German measles involving a China Airlines flight attendant.
“The female flight attendant lives in northern Taiwan and started experiencing fever, a runny nose, coughing and rashes on Saturday. On Wednesday it was confirmed she had German measles and she remains in quarantine,” CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
Chuang said the stewardess could have contracted rubella between Feb. 21 and Feb. 28, either in Vietnam, Indonesia or Hong Kong, categorizing her case as an imported one.
Rubella can be transmitted by airborne droplets seven days before and after symptoms develop. It has an incubation period of between 14 and 21 days.
The flight attendant worked on six flights during her infectious period, including Flight CI116 and Flight CI117 traveling between Taoyuan and Fukuoka on March 8, Flights CI110 and CI111 between Taoyuan and Fukuoka on March 10 and March 11, and Flights CI753 and CI754 traveling between Taoyuan and Singapore on Friday and Saturday last week, the centers said.
Chuang said a total of 686 Taiwanese who had contact with the flight attendant, including passengers, her colleagues, family and medical personnel and patients who were at the hospital where she sought treatment, have been asked to monitor their physical conditions until April 11.
“However, the centers have only managed to contact 72 of the potentially exposed individuals thus far. The rest are urged to call the centers’ disease prevention toll-free hotline 1922 or contact a local health bureau if they exhibit any symptoms of rubella,” Chuang said.
The agency said it had also notified the 11 countries where the 872 foreign passengers who were on board the six flights come from via the International Health Regulations (IHR) Focal Point.
According to CDC statistics, there have been two confirmed cases of German measles in Taiwan this year, including one imported case and one local case.
The centers urged the public not to panic as more than 95 percent of people in the nation have been vaccinated against rubella or have gained immunity from past infection.
Nevertheless, pregnant women should be vigilant, the agency said, because German measles can lead to stillborn deaths, miscarriages and birth defects, including hearing impairment, glaucoma, small head size and heart disease.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
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
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS