Taiwan News
Date: 2015-08-05
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

As dengue fever in southern Taiwan continues to spread, the Executive Yuan has called

on the public to keep their living quarters clean, and empty stagnant water from trash cans, old tires, or containers to help eradicate mosquitoes that carry the virus, reports said Wednesday.

Cabinet spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun has asked the central and local governments to help support communities in eradicating the epidemic.

Last week, health authorities have seen more than 100 new locally acquired dengue fever cases, bringing the island’s total to 432 cases since the beginning of the year and 330 indigenous dengue cases since May.

Of the 124 total dengue cases reported during the week of July 28 and August 3, 114 of the cases were autochthonous, or locally acquired.

Tainan City accounted for nine out of 10 of the cases in that period with 102 local transmission cases, while 10 were confirmed in Kaohsiung City, and 1 each was confirmed in Chiayi County and Pingtung County.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/25
By: Hsu Mei-yu and Elaine Hou

Johannesburg, July 25 (CNA) Taiwan’s National Central University has decided to name a planet after Albie Sachs of South Africa, the winner of the first Tang Prize in Rule of Law.

On behalf of the university, Tang Prize Foundation CEO Chern Jenn-chuan (陳振川) delivered the certificate to Sachs on July 22.

In light of Sachs’ contribution to promoting democratic values, pluralism, social justice and human rights protection, the university said, it decided to name a planet it discovered in 2006 “175419 Albiesachs.”

Sachs, a lawyer and human rights activist who has spent much of his life fighting apartheid, helped write the new Constitution of South Africa and was appointed by late South African president Nelson Mandela in 1994 to serve as a justice of the Constitutional Court –a position he held until 2009.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/16
By: C.F. Chen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 16 (CNA) Kaohsiung City has captured some 238 green iguanas so far this year,

under a culling program that it began in 2013 to maintain an ecological balance, a city official said Thursday.

In 2013, it was found that the city’s Niaosong District (鳥松) was a major habitat for wild green iguanas, the official said, citing a field study done by National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.

Kaohsiung’s Agriculture Bureau later that year commissioned the university to cull the non-native reptiles to help avert ecological and environmental problems, the official said.

The iguana population in Kaohsiung has grown as a result of owners abandoning or releasing the reptiles into the wild, the official said.     [FULL  STORY]

Outbreak News Today
Date: July 15, 2015
By: Robert Herriman

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the case is a 57-year-old male who resides in

Lianjiang County.

On July 4, 2015, he developed difficulty in swallowing. On the following day, when his symptom persisted, he sought medical attention. He was then transferred to a hospital in northern Taiwan and hospitalized for treatment.

Subsequently, he developed difficulty in swallowing, eye muscle disorder, weakness in limbs and difficulty in breathing. As a result, he was reported to the health authority as a suspected botulism case by the hospital.

On July 13, infection with botulinum toxin type A was confirmed in the case by Taiwan CDC. After the patient was given plasma exchange and botulism antitoxin, his condition has improved and he is still receiving treatment in intensive care.

In the course of their investigation, health officials found homemade preserved shellfish and spicy seafood sauce. A sample of the aforementioned foods has been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for laboratory testing to determine the source of the case’s infection.

No family members or coworkers have developed symptoms to date.