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Updated Friday, May 22, 2009 11:58 am TWN, The China Post news staff

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Taiwan gets 2 more flu cases

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Two more cases of swine flu, officially known as influenza type A(H1N1), were confirmed in Taiwan yesterday. But health officials maintained the epidemic alert at Level Two with a focus on forestalling the virus spread into Taiwan from abroad.

Shih Wen-yi, spokesman for the Central Epidemics Command Center (CECC) at the Executive Yuan (Cabinet), reported at 7 p.m. that a 22-year-old Taiwanese female student studying in New York was discovered to have a fever of 38.6 degrees Celsius upon arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport a day earlier.

The young woman was taken by ambulance directly from the airport to the nearby Taoyuan General Hospital and placed in quarantine.

“She has been given anti-flu medicine and her condition is under control,” Shih said.

Shih, who is concurrently deputy director-general of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) under the Department of Health (DOH), had to hold another press conference in late evening to announce that another co-ed returning from the U.S. West Coast had also tested positive for swine flu.

The two new cases were confirmed a day after the first case involving an Australian doctor, who is based in southeastern Taitung County, but was infected on an overseas journey.

Shih said that in the earlier case confirmed yesterday, the 22-year-old woman boarded Cathay Pacific Airways flight CX831 Tuesday from New York, bound for Hong Kong. She then transited to Taiwan on flight CX468, which arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The 23-year-old co-ed took flight BR 171 from San Francisco. She was placed under quarantine due to a temperature of 39 degrees Celsius.

Her sister, who took the same flight, was also called back from home for quarantine and medical examination.

Shih urged fellow passengers who had taken the same flights as the two returning students to immediately make a check of possible symptoms on their own and contact the CDC (Tel hotline: 1992) as early as possible for a detailed test.

Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan urged the public again not to panic over the appearance of the swine flu in the country, as the government is well prepared to contain the spread of the virus.

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