Taiwan has listed a mysterious respiratory disease originating in Wuhan city in the Hubei province of China, as a category 5 communicable disease, providing a legal basis for instituting mandatory reporting and quarantines for those exhibiting symptoms.
Centers for Disease Control, deputy girector-egneral Chuang, Jen-hsiang, made the announcement at a press conference yesterday in which he provided an update on the current status of the outbreak and the government's response.
According to Taiwan's Communicable Disease Control Act, high-risk infectious diseases may be classified in one of five categories, each with specified reporting and quarantine requirements.
In the case of category 5 diseases, which are defined as "emerging communicable diseases or syndromes," the CDC may set and adjust preventive measures based on current risk assessments.
The announcement therefore provided the legal basis for future measures, such as mandatory reporting or forced quarantines, should they become necessary.
As of yesterday, however, the CDC was simply urging those who have returned from travel in the Wuhan area to report and seek medical attention for any fever-like or respiratory symptoms that occur within 14 days of their return.
Other examples of category 5 communicable diseases include Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), H7N9 influenza, Ebola virus disease and yellow fever, among others.
Chuang said that since the start of on-board screening of travelers flying back to Taiwan from Wuhan on December 31, 2019, the CDC had inspected a total of 1,193 passengers on 13 arriving flights.
Of these, nine passengers had exhibited symptoms but were later cleared by medical authorities, while two passengers had required further observation, Chuang said.
In one of the cases, a passenger on an in-bound flight from Wuhan was found to have a fever and respiratory issues, but after examination, was diagnosed with the H3N2 influenza strain, and has since returned home to recover, Chuang said.
In the second case, a passenger who had returned from Wuhan initially exhibited no symptoms, but fell ill with a fever on January 6, more than two weeks after returning home.
Although that exceeded the typical incubation period for flu viruses, the patient was being quarantined in a hospital as a precaution, Chuang said.
The patient did not visit Huanan Seafood Market -- a suspected origin of the outbreak -- or come into contact with possible carriers of the virus such as birds, leading the CDC to conclude that the case is relatively low-risk, Chuang said.
