Two officials of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC) based in Thailand arrived in Taiwan yesterday to help study the cause of Taiwan's three atypical pneumonia cases.
The USCDC officials are Scott Dowell, director of the International Emerging Infections Program, and Sonja Olsen, chief of the epidemiology section of the program.
Both attended a press conference in Taiwan's Center for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday afternoon with Twu Shiing-jer (
PHOTO: LIAO RAY-SHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Dowell and Olsen made no comments yesterday on the three cases of atypical pneumonia Taiwan has already experienced.
Chen, however, quoted the US officials as saying that according to the medical history and clinical status of the three cases, the cause of their illness is "probably the same" as that of the atypical pneumonia cases in other southeast Asian countries.
According to Chen, blood and saliva specimens taken from the three patients will be sent to the USCDC for further examination.
Meanwhile, with three atypical pneumonia cases reported on Friday and Saturday, the DOH called yesterday for the public to remain calm and not to be in a rush to buy surgical masks.
The first two cases, a China-based Taiwanese businessman and his wife, were admitted to National Taiwan University Hospital and the third case, a 64-year-old woman, was sent to Ilan Hospital.
Twu said the hospitals and the CDC are in the process of verifying which virus caused the three cases.
Both the businessman and the 64-year-old woman were traveling in China's Guangdong Province in February. Twu said it was yet to be decided whether their sickness was related to their trips.
"Both began to have symptoms about a week after their return to Taiwan. The incubation period for their disease is different from ordinary flu," Twu said.
The CDC said it had reported the three cases to the World Health Organization (WHO) and asked people to avoid trips to Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Singapore.
The Geneva-based WHO said that in the past week it had received more than 150 reports worldwide of the atypical pneumonia, which it has called "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)."
The WHO issued an emergency travel advisory to travelers and airlines on Saturday.
According to the statement, the WHO has received reports of more than 150 new suspected cases of SARS from Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam over the past week.
The statement advised travelers including airline crew to be aware of the following symptoms and signs of SARS: a high fever (above 38?C) and one or more respiratory symptoms, including cough, shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing, and one or more of the following: close contact with a person who has been diagnosed with SARS or recent history of travel to areas reporting cases of SARS.
"In the unlikely event of a traveler experiencing this combination of symptoms they should seek medical attention and ensure that information about their recent travel is passed on to the health care staff," the statement said.
"Any traveler who develops these symptoms is advised not to undertake further travel until they have recovered," said the statement.
Chen yesterday urged the public, hospital staff, airlines and travel agencies to abide by the WHO's advisory.
Twu said yesterday that though Taiwan had asked for help from the WHO, the organization had refused Taiwan's request. This was unfair not only for the people of Taiwan but, given the transnational nature of the infection, the people of the world at large, Twu said.
Chen said the three cases were all staying in isolation wards. According to Chen, many hospitals across the island have advanced isolation wards that can handle similar infectious cases.
To contain the infectious disease, National Taiwan University Hospital has upgraded isolation measures in the couple's ward to biosafety level 3 (BSL3).
According to the USCDC's definition, BSL3 is applicable to clinical or diagnostic facilities in which "work is done with indigenous or exotic agents which may cause serious or potentially lethal disease as a result of exposure by the inhalation route."
Chen said that the CDC had obtained a budget to develop wards that can handle BSL4 -- the ultimate level -- conditions. Currently, only a few countries possess such advanced wards.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
WAR’S END ANNIVERSARY: ‘Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,’ the president said on social media after attending a morning ceremony Countries should uphold peace, and promote freedom and democracy, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday as Taiwan marked 80 years since the end of World War II and the Second Sino-Japanese War. Lai, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and other top officials in the morning attended a ceremony at the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) to honor those who sacrificed their lives in major battles. “Taiwanese are peace-loving. Taiwan does not believe in commemorating peace by holding guns,” Lai wrote on Facebook afterward, apparently to highlight the contrast with the military parade in Beijing marking the same anniversary. “We
RSS