Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/04/23
By: By Chang Ming-hsun, Chen Wei-ting and Evelyn Kao
Taipei, April 23 (CNA) Measles cases have hit a nine-year high in Taiwan, but a measles
Chou Jih-haw (周志浩, right)
epidemic is unlikely because a high percentage of the population has been vaccinated against the disease, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said Monday.
Chou said the CDC has been on alert because the number of patients with measles in Taiwan is at its highest level in nine years.
But asked to comment on the potential for a large measles outbreak, Chou said Taiwan has a measles vaccination rate of 97 percent, higher than about 90 percent in many other countries, making an epidemic unlikely.
As of Saturday, 22 people had tested positive for the highly contagious virus since March 29 when the CDC reported Taiwan’s first imported case of measles infection this year — a male patient who was infected with measles during a trip to Thailand in early March. [FULL STORY]