The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) this week confirmed Taiwan’s first human fatality from the H7N9 avian flu virus. Earlier, a Chiayi poultry farm and a turkey farm in Tainan tested positive for a highly pathogenic avian flu virus strain. Poultry farms in Hualien and Yilan counties were confirmed to have infected birds as well.
The world is fortunate that Taiwan has superb animal health and infectious disease control talent, data collection, quarantine and treatment facilities. Taiwan remains far superior to China in disease control in general and the containment of avian flu in particular.