Amandala Newspaper
Date: 09 October 2015
By: Johnelle McKenzie

BELIZE CITY, Tues. Oct. 6, 2015–A team of three doctors and three nurses are here in Belize from Far Eastern Memorial Hospital (FEMH) in Taiwan and will be conducting free clinics for four days at the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired (BCVI) and Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH). The team includes specialists in ophthalmology, E.N.T. (ear, nose and throat), and nephrology.

The Ambassador of Taiwan to Belize, Benjamin Ho, said that the visit is possible because of an agreement between Taiwan and the Ministry of Health which was signed earlier this year.

Carla Musa, Executive Director of BCVI, a non-profit organization which carries out comprehensive eye services, said that the ophthalmologist will be performing cataract-removal surgeries on at least 20 of the BCVI’s patients.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/09
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Oct. 9 (CNA) The Centers for Disease Control on Friday called on Taiwan residents to step up efforts to eradicate mosquito breeding sites in the fight against a huge dengue outbreak, as the Double Ten holiday weekend is forecast to be rainy.

The humid weather, coupled with the rain, is favorable for mosquito breeding and could escalate the dengue situation in Taiwan, which was just showing signs of slowing down, the CDC said

As of Thursday, the number of dengue fever cases in Taiwan had reached 22,180, an overnight increase of 419, according to CDC data.

The southern Taiwan cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung reported an increase of 282 and 130 cases, respectively, from the previous day. Cases reported in those two municipalities — 18,665 in Tainan and 3,145 in Kaohsiung — account for over 98 percent of the national total.      [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-05
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan’s dengue fever epidemic needs a bug fix, the Taipei Zoo said Monday.

As the mosquito-borne disease continues to plague southern Taiwan, the zoo pointed out

Taipei Zoo: bug antidote can combat dengue. Central News Agency

that the water bug was already proven effective against mosquito larvae in parts of Southeast Asia and India.

The Belostomatidae, also known as giant water bug, is typically encountered in freshwater streams and ponds in many parts of the world, and are fierce predators which stalk, capture, and feed on aquatic invertebrates, snails, and crustaceans.

“Studies also found that they feed on mosquito larvae, as proven by researchers in the Philippines,” the zoo said.

Recent studies also found that a water bug can consume 86-99 full grown mosquito larvae per day.

The Belostomatidae are back brooders, which means that the males care for the eggs attached to their backs – laid by the females after mating.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/04
By: Flor Wang

Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) The number of dengue fever cases nationwide had reached 20,241 as of Sunday morning, an increase of 352 from the previous day, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

In Tainan, where the mosquito-borne disease has been especially virulent this summer, there have been 17,278 cases. There have been 2,636 in neighboring Kaohsiung and 81 in the southernmost county of Pingtung, the agency said.

In the capital city of Taipei, 40 local and 46 foreign related dengue fever cases had been reported as of 10am on Sunday.

There were two more suspected dengue fever-related fatalities on Saturday, bringing the total number of deaths to 56 across the country as of Sunday morning, while 54 people remain in intensive care.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/03
By: Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 3 (CNA) People in Taiwan would have been able to see the International Space Station (ISS) with the naked eye as it passed over Taiwan early Saturday evening, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said on its Facebook page.

The museum said people would have been able to see the space station, in orbit 400 kilometers above the earth, as it passed over Taiwan between 6:14 p.m. and 6:23 p.m.

The station’s brightness would have been only next to the moon, and people would have been able to see it with the naked eye in good conditions.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States provides a “Spot the Station” service. Interested parties can register on the website and will then receive e-mails or text messages on their mobile phones to inform them of when the ISS will pass above their locations.     [FULL  STORY]