Ma holds Zika virus national security meeting

2016/02/03

ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said Feb. 1 that all government agencies are cooperating in reviewing existing disease prevention measures so as to safeguard the people of Taiwan from a possible Zika virus outbreak.

“We are ramping up national efforts to combat the Zika virus,” Ma said. “The government’s four major strategies involve border quarantine, health care system preparedness, prevention of virus importation and vector control.”

Ma made the remarks during a National Security Council meeting at the Presidential Office. Attendees included Premier Chang San-cheng, Centers for Disease Control Director-General Steve H. S. Kuo and heads of the ministries of Health and Welfare and National Defense.

According to Kuo, after the first Zika virus case was confirmed Jan. 10 in Taiwan, the CDC listed the contagion as a Category Two Notifiable Infectious Disease and published guidelines and public updates in the following days.

“Although there is no significant increase in the number of neurological congenital malformation or microcephaly in newborn babies caused by the Zika virus in Taiwan, we advise those pregnant not to visit at-risk areas,” he said.

At the same time, the CDC raised travel advisory alerts for the Caribbean, Central and South America, and added to the watchlist Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives and Thailand.

Kuo said the CDC is accessing Zika virus-related information from the World Health Organization, and is ready to activate its emergency command center if necessary. The agency is also in close contact with health authorities around the world in this regard.

In October last year, the Brazilian government confirmed the existence of at least 3,500 cases of microcephaly that may be linked to the Zika virus.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=241974&ctNode=2194&mp=9)