To ensure the health and wellbeing of the people and lower the risk of importing Zika virus into Taiwan, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control collaborated with the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and developed the Zika virus prevention fact sheet, which is referred to as the “orange card”. The “orange card” will be disseminated among arriving foreign workers at the international airports as an effort to tighten the existing border control to prevent the spread of the Zika virus.

Since January 2016, 3 imported Zika cases have been identified in Taiwan and all of them are foreign workers. To provide Zika virus prevention information to all foreign workers, Taiwan CDC has produced the “orange card” printed with key messages such as “Prevent mosquito bites”, “Practice safe sex”, and “Seek immediate medical attention when sick” and it is available in English, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Thai. Further, since most foreign workers use smartphones to surf the internet, the “orange card” includes a QR code that links directly to the detailed fact sheet on Zika virus prevention in different languages on the Taiwan CDC website (http://goo.gl/QYqTpR).

Copies of the “orange card” has been distributed to and made available to foreign workers along with “The Handbook For Foreign Workers in Taiwan” at the Foreign Worker Service Station at both Taoyuan International Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport. At the same time, Taiwan CDC is seeking the assistance of all employers and foreign worker agencies to help distribute the “orange card” to foreign workers in order to effectively promote Zika awareness.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, currently, at least 62 countries, areas and/or territories worldwide, primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean region, have reported local outbreaks of Zika virus infection. Taiwan CDC has issued a travel notice of Level 2: Alert for Zika virus for 52 countries and territories, including 4 countries in Asia: Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

For more information, please visit the Taiwan CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline,1922 (or 0800-001922).