In view of the continued threat posed by dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses to global health, their shared means of transmission by mosquitoes, and their similar symptoms, the United States and Taiwan will hold a four-day international conference starting from today (April 25), which aims to enhance the efficiency of these diseases’ diagnoses in eighteen countries, including those in the New Southward Policy. Guests of honors will include Vice President Chen Chien-jen, Minister without Portfolio John Deng, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan James Moriarty, Director of AIT Kin W. Moy, and representative officers from Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia.

This conference was organized as part of the U.S.-Taiwan Global Cooperation and Training Framework. It is the first time that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will share its original diagnosis technique that combines “real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, dengue NS1 antigen test, and multiplex detection of enzymes” into one with official research staff from Asian and Caribbean countries. The CDC hope that by sharing and transferring these techniques, the countries of the New Southward Policy will be equipped with the means to diagnose the three diseases in one day and thus effectively keep the contagions in check and ensure their citizens’ safety and health.

Thirty-five laboratory professionals from 18 countries in total, including Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam, were invited to attend the conference in Taiwan. Experts from the Virology Research Unit of AFRIMS of the U.S. and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases of Japan were invited as keynote speakers to work together toward a better means of diagnosis for these vector-borne diseases, so that the region as a whole will be better safeguarded against these diseases and the threat to global health in turn will be diminished.