Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/03/13
By: Chen Wei-ting and Kuan-lin Liu
Taipei, March 13 (CNA) Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday there is
CNA file photo
no truth to the rumors about a deadly mutated influenza virus, dubbed the “new Aussie flu,” which allegedly poses a risk to millions of people worldwide.
At a press conference, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said the “new Aussie flu” does not exist, and he urged Taiwan citizens not to panic.
He was responding to a rash of online rumors of an impending flu pandemic caused by a deadly mutation of a flu virus that killed several people in Australia last year.
According to the speculations on social media, the “new Aussie flu” is likely to cause up to 300 million deaths worldwide, but Chuang said there is no data or evidence from Australia’s Department of Health to indicate that a new strain of the virus has developed.
[FULL STORY]
