In light of the continuing threat posed by the Zika virus, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control ‘s (Taiwan CDC’s) Command Center for Zika Virus convened a coordination meeting in the morning of February 22, 20216. The meeting participants include the 6 regional commanders of the Communicable Disease Control Medical Network and the 22 local health bureaus. Commander Kuo Hsu-sung (郭旭崧) instructed all local health bureaus to complete outbreak drills by the end of February in order to ensure both central and local government agencies are prepared for possible outbreaks.

The meeting was presided over by Commander Kuo. In addition, meeting participants from Taiwan CDC presented on various related topics, including the current outbreak situation, the existing prevention and control efforts, and the virus characteristics, to the local health bureaus. Even though no local Zika virus outbreak has occurred in Taiwan, Commander Kuo instructed local health bureaus to be prepared, conduct outbreak drills to simulate when the first confirmed case is reported in their city/county, and implement the standard operating procedures for the subsequent prevention and response to the Zika virus.

Although the disease is usually mild, there have been reports of congenital microcephaly and even deaths in babies of mothers who were infected with Zika virus while pregnant. Commander Kuo instructed local health bureaus to reinforce the implementation of health education and risk communication among pregnant women, including advising pregnant women to postpone all unnecessary travels to Zika-affected areas, advising travelers to conduct self-health management for at least two weeks after returning from affected areas, and follow the doctor’s instructions for all follow-ups.

Thus far, at least 40 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 the aforementioned 40 countries and territories. Although sporadic cases have been reported in 5 countries, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Gabon in Africa, no direct evidence has shown local transmission has occurred in any of the 5 countries. Taiwan CDC has issued a travel notice of Level 1: Watch for Zika virus for these 5 countries.

Besides the first imported case of Zika virus infection in a Thai national detected at the airport in Taiwan, thus far, no local cases of Zika virus infection have been identified in Taiwan. In addition, no significant increase in the number of microcephaly cases in Taiwan has been observed.Taiwan CDC will continue to closely monitor the ongoing outbreaks and implement 4 major strategies, including healthcare system preparedness planning, prevention of Zika virus importation, border quarantine and vector control, in order to prevent the occurrence of local outbreaks.

Zika virus is transmitted by the same type of mosquitoes that transmit dengue virus, Aedes mosquitoes, including Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Hence, Taiwan CDC urges the public to reinforce the cleaning and removal of vector breeding sites to prevent Zika virus and dengue fever transmission. 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 or +886-800-001922 when overseas).