The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced today that Taiwan has newly imported a case of monkeypox, the first case this year. It is a man in his 30s from the north, with a history of traveling to many European countries. He was treated in isolation in a hospital; There are 39 patients who need to self-monitor their health for 21 days.
Guo Hongwei, director of the Epidemic Center of the CDC, explained in a routine epidemic report in the afternoon that this male case is the fifth confirmed case of monkeypox reported in Taiwan. He had a history of traveling to many European countries from January to February this year. Symptoms such as blisters, rash, sore throat, joint pain, and body aches appeared. After evaluation by a doctor, a test was taken and reported. On February 15, the diagnosis was positive.
Luo Yijun, spokesperson of the CDC, said that this case had a history of social contact activities overseas. According to epidemiological research, the place of infection was Austria with the highest possibility, and it was judged to be an imported case; 39 contacts were listed, including 1 friend. , 12 workplace contacts, and the rest are hospital contacts who are assessed as low-to-medium risk and do not require vaccination. At present, 1 person has relevant symptoms and is a medical contact, and the test is negative. Lin Yongqing, an epidemic prevention doctor of the CDC, said that after the case was treated, the symptoms were well controlled, and the rash had greatly improved, and some scabs fell off. However, because monkeypox cases need all the scabs to fall off before they can be released from isolation, they are still being treated in isolation in the hospital at this stage.
Since the monkeypox epidemic broke out in the UK in mid-May last year, at least 109 countries have reported more than 86,000 confirmed cases. Guo Hongwei said that monkeypox was listed as a second-class legal infectious disease on June 23 last year. Today, a total of 45 suspected cases were reported, and 5 cases were confirmed as immigrants from abroad, including 1 case from Germany, 3 cases from the United States, and 1 case from Austria. The remaining 40 cases were all excluded.
The World Health Organization announced on July 23 last year that the monkeypox outbreak was listed as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)”, and it has been maintained so far. The transmission of monkeypox is limited, and the possibility of human-to-human transmission through close contact is high. Luo Yijun said that although the international monkeypox epidemic situation has declined, the domestic epidemic situation in Japan has recently increased. It is expected that the promotion of monkeypox epidemic prevention will be strengthened during the 228 consecutive holidays to the Qingming holiday. Luo Yijun reminded that the incubation period of monkeypox infection is about 21 days. If there are suspected symptoms such as fever, skin lesions such as rashes, papules, blisters or pustules, you should take the initiative to inform the airline staff and airport and port quarantine personnel if you have symptoms when you return to China, and as soon as possible. Seek medical attention immediately, and inform the doctor of travel history and contact history.