In light of the fact that the Zika virus has spread rapidly in Latin America since the later half of 2015, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) sent two medical officers to Honduras and Brazil to visit their health authorities and hospitals and provide the Taiwanese communities living there with the relevant health education and mosquito repellent during March 20 and 31, 2016.　

The visits have allowed both medical officers to better understand the latest development of the ongoing Zika outbreaks and the control and prevention efforts implemented by the two countries. In addition, the two medical officers were interviewed by a local newspaper in Brazil to talk about the purpose of their visit, share Taiwan’s experience in mosquito control, and offer Zika control and prevention recommendations.  

The medical officers noted that both Honduras and Brazil have faced various challenges in their fights against Zika. For instance, their case reporting and surveillance systems are only partially implemented, their healthcare service can be further improved, their disease control resources are not distributed evenly, and their laboratory capacity also needs improvement. On the other hand, due to the lack of appropriate infrastructure, improving environmental health remains a major challenge for the local government.    Fortunately, both countries have been promoting nation-wide vector-borne disease awareness through integrating multi-sector and multi-lateral resources, offering the public the correct ways to ward off infection. The visit has also highlighted the importance of health communication and the capacity to detect and respond to public health threats. Therefore, Taiwan CDC will continue to work closely together with the mass media to provide accurate information about Zika virus to the public and strengthen the nation’s laboratory capacity in order to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the laboratory tests performed in Taiwan. The Command Center for Zika Virus will continue to closely monitor the development of the ongoing Zika outbreaks and implement measures that are in line with the international community.

On April 5, 2016, the Vietnam CDC announced the country’s first two Zika cases who respectively reside in Khanh Hoa Province and Ho Chi Minh City. And one of them is pregnant. According to the initial epidemiological investigation, the cases acquired their infection locally. As of now, all of their family members and relatives were tested negative for the virus. As the occurrence of the indigenous cases indicates the risk of local Zika transmission in Vietnam, Taiwan CDC therefore raises the travel notice level for Vietnam to Level 2: Alert for Zika virus. Thus far, at least 61 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 46 countries and territories.

Taiwan CDC advises pregnant women and women planning pregnancy to postpone all unnecessary travels to Zika-affected areas. If visits to affected areas are necessary, travelers are advised 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. Travelers visiting affected areas are urged to take precautions against mosquito bites such as wearing light-colored clothing, long sleeves and long pants, applying officially approved mosquito repellent to exposed parts of the body, staying at accommodations installed with window screens, screen doors or air conditioners. People returning from Zika-affected areas are advised to use condoms when having sex for at least 28 days to prevent Zika transmission. Further, Taiwan CDC urges travelers returning from affected areas to proactively contact the quarantine officer at the fever screening station at the airport when suspected symptoms develop. If symptoms develop within two weeks of their return, please seek immediate medical attention and inform the physician of their travel history. 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).