Health officials are monitoring the spread of enterovirus in Taiwan, with the season fully underway. That’s in light of the outbreak of a particularly serious strain of the virus EV71 in neighboring countries. That type can cause neurological complications.
While the number of enterovirus cases has already passed a threshold to constitute an outbreak, and a number of kindergartens have closed down to prevent the spread, the number of EV71 cases has so far been limited.
The legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee invited the health and education ministries to report on the virus on Monday.
Vice Health and Welfare Minister Shiu Ming-neng said the ministry is prepared to deal with a potential outbreak.
“We are constantly monitoring all cities and counties for cases of the virus. Since we have not had an epidemic of EV71 in four years, there is a pretty high risk of an outbreak this year. So far we have only found cases of the [lesser] Coxsackie Virus in Taiwan, as opposed to the EV71 outbreak in other countries. We still need to make sure that all cities and counties are well prepared to deal with the virus," said Shiu.
The health ministry says it will continue to monitor and contain existing virus epidemics and offer more training to prepare for the future.