Online report of MERS patients at local hospital false
2015/06/05 21:34:35
Chou Jih-haw (周志浩), left
Taipei, June 5 (CNA) While South Korea is trying to control an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Taiwan's disease control authorities are acting to stop an online rumor that a local hospital has reported MERS cases.
The Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) declared solemnly on Friday that the online report titled "Cardinal Tien Hospital has 16 MERS cases" was not true.
The rumor, following another false report that Chang Gung Memorial Hospital has reported MERS cases, has spread like wild fire in social media websites in the past few days.
Those spreading such untrue reports have violated the Communicable Disease Control Act, Chou said, noting that such a violation is subjected to a fine ranging from NT$90,000 (US$2,911) to NT$450,000.
The fine goes up to a maximum of NT$500,000 if untrue information about epidemic disease outbreaks causes harm to the public or individuals, Chou added.
So far, there have been 31 suspected MERS infection cases reported in Taiwan since 2012, and 26 of them were eventually proven to be false alarms, while the other five are still in the process of laboratory testing, Chou said.
He reiterated that the CDC will transparently publicize all of the information of the epidemic disease on its official website, and urged people not to trust or spread online reports with questionable sources.
MERS, an illness caused by a virus, affects the respiratory system, including the lungs. Most MERS patients develop severe acute respiratory illness with symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath.
World Health Organization (WHO) data showed that since the first MERS infection case was reported in Saudi Arabia in September 2012, there have been 1,139 confirmed cases around the world as of May 25 this year, with 431 of them ending in death, the CDC said.
South Korea has reported 41 cases as of June 5, including four deaths, according to the agency.
(By Lung Pei-ning and Elizabeth Hsu)
