The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced a newly confirmed imported case of influenza A (H1N1) in Taiwan, which is the 10th confirmed case in Taiwan.The tenth case is a 26-year-old, Taiwan-born male who traveled to Guizhou, China from May 13 to 22, 2009.The case stopped by Hong Kong briefly to catch a connecting flight in the evening of May 22, 2009 and arrived at Taoyuan International Airport in the early morning of May 23, 2009.At noon of May 25, 2009, the case developed symptoms such as fatigue and fever. Later in the afternoon, the case sought medical attention at a hospital and was measured to have a body temperature of 38.6℃.After further diagnosis and evaluation, the case was sent to an isolation ward for treatment and specimen collection and was immediately reported to the health authority.According to the epidemiological investigation, the case developed symptoms after arriving in Taiwan for 2.5 days and the case had no close contacts with any foreigner during his trip to China.During his stop in Hong Kong, he visited the duty free store at the airport that was packed with travelers mostly from the United States and Japan.Further, none of his close contacts in Taiwan has developed any influenza-like symptoms during the incubation period of influenza A (H1N1). Therefore, it is highly possible that the case is an imported case.

CECC has obtained the list of the 17 other tour group members and 30 other close contacts of the tenth case after he returned to Taiwan. As a precaution, all the close contacts have been asked to conduct self-health management and to call 1922 for consultation and contact the local health unit for assistance to seek medical attention if they develop influenza-like symptoms.At the time of writing, all the close contacts are in good health conditions.CECC has reported the case to the World Health Organization and contact points in other countries through the IHR Focal Point.

Currently, the pandemic alert level in Taiwan remains at phase 3 (yellow light).As of now, the number of cases of influenza A (H1N1) confirmed in Taiwan is 10.Of the cases, 3 have been discharged from the hospital (1st case, 2nd case, and 5th case), while 7 other cases are still under treatment. In addition, 5 of the cases are students who study abroad.Hence, CECC once again emphasized that as long as the outbreaks in the United States and Canada persist, and as the summer vacation approaches and more students who study abroad will be retuning to Taiwan during the summer, the number of imported case is bound to increase and the outbreak control measures implemented will have to be adjusted accordingly.

On the other hand, CECC stated that ten contracted virology laboratories will be in charge of laboratory testing for influenza A (H1N1) virus in various cities and counties beginning June 1, 2009.From then on, the local health unit will submit specimen to the designated laboratory for laboratory testing in order to minimize the specimen transportation time, thus increasing the efficiency of specimen testing.