After Dr. David D. Ho accepted the position of expert consultant for Taiwan’s Ebola Expert Group, Dr. Michael D. Malison and Dr. Shieh Wun-ju who recently received the Order of the Brilliant Star with Violet Grand Cordon from President Ma Ying-jeou have also agreed to serve as expert consultants for the Expert Group to assist Taiwan in responding to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Dr. Malison is a true global health champion. He retired from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) last year and is currently an Adjunct Professor for the Department of International Health at the Emory University. During his career, he helped found the US CDC’s Sustainable Management Development Program and the agency’s WHO Collaborating Center for Global Public Health Workforce Development, which helped train public health professionals in countries around the world. In 1984, under the earnest invitation of Dr. Li Kwoh-ting, Dr. Malison helped set up the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) in Taiwan. Over the past three decades, Dr. Malison contributed tremendously to building our nation’s capacity to respond to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. During his term as the Health Attaché to the US Embassy in Thailand, Dr. Malison helped Taiwan FETP establish friendly ties with FETPs in other Asian countries, which subsequently facilitated the exchange of epidemic information and experiences in disease control and helped Taiwan explore diverse avenues of international health collaboration.

Dr. Shieh Wun-ju is an outstanding Taiwanese American scholar living in the United States. Dr. Shieh is the Advisory Pathologist and Medical Officer at the US CDC. He has devoted himself to global public health and the research in pathology of infectious diseases and has engaged in numerous major global fights against emerging infectious diseases. He has returned to Taiwan many times to help in the investigation of outbreaks of major infectious diseases, including participating in the pathological autopsy of enterovirus 71 cases in order to identify the cause of death among children, assisting in the pathological diagnosis of SARS-related deaths, identifying the cause of death in a child who received the H1N1 vaccine, as well as assisting in the pathological diagnosis of rabies in animals. In addition, Dr. Shieh has frequently and proactively acted as a liaison on our behalf to facilitate communication and cooperation between Taiwan CDC and its US counterpart as well as other international organizations. His contributions to Taiwan’s response to and control of international outbreaks have been significant.

As infectious diseases know no boundaries, Taiwan must work with partners around the world in order to effectively control outbreaks. Besides obtaining up-to-date Ebola information, including relevant guidance and disease outbreak news, from WHO, Taiwan FETP has been staying in close contact with international FETPs, including US CDC and Nigerian CDC, to exchange information on international Ebola aid activities as well as to discuss how Taiwan FETP can contribute to and participate in international medical aid teams in the affected areas. In the near future, under the advisement and supervision of the Ebola Expert Group, Taiwan will continue to actively participate in international Ebola aid efforts and formulate appropriate prevention and control measures aimed to stop Ebola at borders and ensure the health and well-being of the people in Taiwan.