Taiwan Centers for Disease Control announces that the country has met the epidemic elimination conditions for mpox established by the World Health Organization. (Staff photo/Pang Chia-shan)

Taiwan has not reported any new locally transmitted mpox cases over the past 14 weeks, in line with the epidemic elimination conditions set up by the World Health Organization, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control said Feb. 20.

After at least three months of surveillance with no new cases of human-to-human transmission, the WHO’s conditions are met. According to the CDC, the country saw its last case Nov. 13, 2023.

The effective containment of mpox following the first case reported Feb. 26, 2023 can be attributed to cooperation among ministries, agencies, local health units, medical institutions and civic groups, the CDC said. They have implemented prevention and control measures including the establishment of notification networks and the timely provision of antiviral drugs, as well as carried out public awareness campaigns and conducted case management and personnel training, it added.

The CDC advised continued vigilance as an imported case was recently reported at the end of January, adding that new cases have continued to crop up in Europe, Southeast Asia, the Americas and the West Pacific.

It also urged at-risk members of the public to seek vaccination as soon as possible at any of the 161 hospitals and clinics around Taiwan offering the option, adding that the second dose of vaccine showed about 90 percent efficacy for mpox prevention. The CDC’s data revealed that as of Feb. 18, 74,826 people have been vaccinated, 63.6 percent of whom have completed two doses of the vaccine. (YCH-E)