The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) announced the first confirmed measles case this year as a 48-year-old female resident in Taipei City. She was suffering from fever and general fatigue on March 12, and sought medical attention at a clinic on March 14. Subsequently, she developed symptoms including rashes, conjunctivitis and painful urination, and sought clinical and hospital treatments several times from March 16 to 19. The case was reported by the hospital; a collected specimen was sent for examination; as a result, measles was confirmed on March 21. At present, the person has already recovered and been released from quarantine. Since she visited Mainland China for business from March 2 to 5, the case was therefore determined as an imported infection. 

The Taiwan CDC stated that health agencies have started investigations on infection control and have so far identified 231 persons (54 tracked, 175 in tracking, and 2 unable to track), including family members, colleagues, healthcare personnel and patients, whom she came into contact with when seeking treatments. So far, none of the contacts has developed suspected measles symptoms. The monitoring procedure is expected to continue until April 7. It was also found that apart from seeking clinical and hospital treatments, during the communicable period (from March 12 to 20), the person had taken the MRT Songshan-Xindian Line to commute between her home and her company on March 14 and 15. Her commuting route and time periods were as follows: Departure, around 8:30 am from Nanjing Sanmin Station to Zhongshan Station; return, around 6:00 pm from Zhongshan Station to Nanjing Sanmin Station. The Taiwan CDC called on any members of the public who had visited those venues during the aforementioned time periods to perform health self-management for 18 days (from the date of their last exposure). If suspected symptoms appear, they should wear a mask, seek prompt medical attention and inform a physician of any relevant exposure history. 

So far this year (2016), a total of one measles case (imported) has been confirmed; last year, the number of confirmed cases was 29 in total, including 23 domestic infections and 6 imported infections from Mainland China. Of the 23 domestic cases, 19 were caused by a cluster infection in a duty free shop, 2 by a cluster infection in a hospital, and the sources of the remaining 2 were unknown; of the 6 imported infections, 2 were caused by a cluster infection. 

The Taiwan CDC asserts that vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent measles. Parents are urged to bring one-year-old children to be vaccinated at public health centers or affiliated immunization clinics; for those young and middle-aged adults who are uncertain of their infection status, and some of the youth who were vaccinated in their childhood yet worry that their antibodies might reduce in number as they grow older, the Taiwan CDC urges them to contact outpatient travel clinics to assess their needs for vaccination before travelling to endemic areas. If symptoms such as fever, rhinitis, conjunctivitis, coughing and rashes develop on their return from endemic areas, they should wear a mask, seek immediate medical attention and inform the physician of any relevant travel and exposure history. For more information, please visit the Taiwan CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw or call the Taiwan CDC toll-free hotline 1922 (or 0800-001922) for enquiries (available at all times). If calling from another country, please call the international hotline +886-800-001922 (caller is responsible for international telephone fees).