Taiwan closely monitoring plague rumors: premier

The government is monitoring online rumors that a pneumonic plague outbreak has spread from Russia into China, and it might enhance quarantine measures, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday.

During a legislative meeting, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that rumors had circulated that the disease had spread across several Chinese provinces.

He asked Cho whether the government was prepared to prevent the disease spreading to Taiwan, given the volume of traffic between the two sides, and how concerned the government was about the alleged outbreak.

Premier Cho Jung-tai, front, attends a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times

The Ministry of Health and Welfare had implemented border quarantine measures after briefing the Executive Yuan on the issue two weeks ago, Cho said.

The government is “highly, highly concerned,” he added.

Authorities would continue monitoring online information from China about the disease to identify any “suspicious” developments and determine whether quarantine measures should be bolstered accordingly, he said.

Regarding allegations that online posts concerning pneumonic plague cases in Sichuan Province had been removed, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said China has always been “opaque” about disease outbreaks.

The council would remain in close contact with the health ministry to keep Taiwanese working in China informed of the latest developments, he said.

Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said his ministry had contacted the WHO to verify whether the Oct. 2 death of a 28-year-old laboratory worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East was due to pneumonic plague.

“However, so far, no tests of pathogens or other samples have returned positive results, so it cannot be concluded at this point that plague was definitely the culprit,” Shih said.