Posted: 20 May 2009 0954 hrs
Train commuters wear masks as a precaution against H1N1 flu in Kobe, western Japan.
TAIPEI - Taiwan's health authorities on Wednesday reported the island's first confirmed case of Influenza A (H1N1), in an Australian doctor who arrived by plane from Hong Kong earlier in the week.
The 52-year-old cruise ship doctor arrived at Taipei airport on Monday and was responding well to treatment, said Shih Wen-yi, a spokesman from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The man was found to be running a fever after arriving from New York via Hong Kong late Monday and was sent to hospital for testing, Shih said. Lab results confirmed early Wednesday that he had contracted the H1N1 virus.
"We urge the public not to panic and the passengers aboard the flight to contact the CDC for testing," he said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the doctor, who practises in Taiwan, had been in the United States between February and May. Taoyuan General Hospital identified the man as a Taiwan-based Australian.
"He started to feel sick when he was about to arrive in Taiwan. Most of his symptoms have been alleviated after treatment," hospital spokesman Wang Wei-jie told AFP.
Taiwan's health minister, Yeh Chin-chuan, currently in Geneva attending the World Health Organization's annual meeting, was planning to cut short his visit following the island's first confirmed case, local reports said.
"The health department is prepared so the public can rest assured. The flu's mortality rate is low, unlike SARS," Yeh said in Geneva, referring to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome that hit mostly Asian countries in 2003.
Yeh, a public health expert, is best known for leading Taipei through the SARS crisis as the capital's deputy mayor.
A(H1N1) flu has claimed about 79 lives worldwide, according to the WHO.
The UN agency has reported some 9,830 infections in 40 countries.
- AFP/ir
From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.
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Train commuters wear masks as a precaution against H1N1 flu in Kobe, western Japan.TAIPEI - Taiwan's health authorities on Wednesday reported the island's first confirmed case of Influenza A (H1N1), in an Australian doctor who arrived by plane from Hong Kong earlier in the week.
The 52-year-old cruise ship doctor arrived at Taipei airport on Monday and was responding well to treatment, said Shih Wen-yi, a spokesman from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The man was found to be running a fever after arriving from New York via Hong Kong late Monday and was sent to hospital for testing, Shih said. Lab results confirmed early Wednesday that he had contracted the H1N1 virus.
"We urge the public not to panic and the passengers aboard the flight to contact the CDC for testing," he said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the doctor, who practises in Taiwan, had been in the United States between February and May. Taoyuan General Hospital identified the man as a Taiwan-based Australian.
"He started to feel sick when he was about to arrive in Taiwan. Most of his symptoms have been alleviated after treatment," hospital spokesman Wang Wei-jie told AFP.
Taiwan's health minister, Yeh Chin-chuan, currently in Geneva attending the World Health Organization's annual meeting, was planning to cut short his visit following the island's first confirmed case, local reports said.
"The health department is prepared so the public can rest assured. The flu's mortality rate is low, unlike SARS," Yeh said in Geneva, referring to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome that hit mostly Asian countries in 2003.
Yeh, a public health expert, is best known for leading Taipei through the SARS crisis as the capital's deputy mayor.
A(H1N1) flu has claimed about 79 lives worldwide, according to the WHO.
The UN agency has reported some 9,830 infections in 40 countries.
- AFP/ir
From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.
----------
Heard about the cure-all supplement?
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