Since October 21, 2014, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) has requested relevant organizations and airline companies to distribute the “Ebola Declaration Form”, which is a travel history declaration form for Ebola screening, on board all flights arriving in Taiwan from Europe and Dubai. Passengers are required to fill out the form truthfully and report to the quarantine station at the airport voluntarily. Thus far, Taiwan CDC has received a total of 6,304 completed forms. Among the incoming travelers who submitted the form, one traveler reported having visited the Ebola-affected countries, including Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The traveler who arrived from Guinea had no contact with Ebola patients and had not visited anyone in the hospital in Guinea. In addition, according to the assessment done by the quarantine officer at the airport, the traveler has been educated on the relevant prevention measures and asked to monitor health for 21 days by taking temperature twice a day. Taiwan CDC will be following up on the traveler everyday for the next 21 days. At the time of writing, the traveler had not developed fever or other suspected symptoms. To prevent the transmission of Ebola virus, Taiwan CDC urges passengers who have visited Ebola-affected areas in West Africa to fill out the “Ebola Declaration Form” honestly. If symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea or rash develop, please call the toll-free hotline 1922(or 0800-001922) for assistance in seeking medical attention and voluntarily inform the doctor of any recent travel and exposure history to facilitate diagnosis and treatment.

On October 25, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that a cumulative total of 10,141 case of Ebola virus disease (EVD), including 4,922 deaths, had been reported in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, the United States of America and Spain. The Ebola mortality rate is approximately 70%. The transmission of Ebola continues to occur among healthcare workers in the Ebola-affected areas. As of October 23, a total of 450 healthcare workers have been infected with EVD and 244 have died. Ebola outbreaks remain rampant in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone has reported the most number of new cases. Nevertheless, Liberia has underreported the number of Ebola cases in the nation and it has remained the hardest hit by the virus. On the other hand, Mali has recently reported the first confirmed Ebola casualty and the United States has recently reported one new Ebola case in a medical aid worker who volunteered in Guinea and returned to New York City. Possible contacts of the case are being identified and followed up.

Taiwan CDC recommends the public to avoid all nonessential travel to Ebola-affected areas in West Africa. If you must travel to an area with an Ebola outbreak, protect yourself by taking the following measures. Avoid visiting hospitals and direct contact with patients. Travelers are urged to monitor their own health for 21 days after their return to Taiwan. On the other hand, physicians are advised to stay vigilant for suspected cases, inquire about such patients’ travel history, and notify the health authority immediately of any suspected cases to facilitate implementation of subsequent measures such as following relevant infection control and prevention guidelines closely, case reporting, specimen collection, isolation of patients, and placing contacts in quarantine in order to prevent further transmission of the disease. Health-care workers should always take standard precautions when caring for patients, regardless of their presumed diagnosis. These include basic hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, use of personal protective equipment (to block splashes or other contact with infected materials), safe injection practices and safe burial practices. Health-care workers caring for patients with suspected or confirmed Ebola virus should apply extra infection control measures to prevent contact with the patient’s blood and body fluids and contaminated surfaces or materials such as clothing and bedding. For more information, please visit the Taiwan CDC’s website at: www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922 (or 0800-001922).