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Taiwan receives A(H1N1) virus samples from U.S. for vaccine

ROC Central News Agency

2009.05.11 18:25:22

By Deborah Kuo

Taipei, May 11 (CNA) The deputy director-general of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) expressed appreciation to the United States Monday for its timely supply of influenza A(H1N1) samples that were received earlier that same day.

The samples can not only be produced into a "seed stock" to form the basis for a swine flu vaccine, they can also be used by researchers from the non-profit National Health Research Institute (NHRI) to find out whether the A(H1N1) virus mutates genetically, said Shih Wen-yi, who is also a spokesman for the Central Epidemic Command Center.

In addition, he went on, the World Health Organization (WHO) is also expected in the near future to ship samples of the influenza A(H1N1) virus strain to Taiwan to be used to develop a swine flu vaccine.

The WHO samples of the virus -- which was reported to have caused 53 deaths in 30 countries as of Monday -- are expected to be delivered by a WHO reference lab to Taiwan before the end of May, Shih added.

Last week, Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan said that if everything goes smoothly, a locally developed vaccine against the virus could be available to the Taiwanese public by September.

According to Yeh, the raw strain cannot be immediately used for production of a human flu vaccine but must first be inactivated before being developed into a vaccine. He added that "Taiwan will be able to produce some 200,000 doses of vaccine against the A(H1N1) flu virus in three months." The vaccine will first be used to inoculate medical personnel, firefighters and immigration personnel, Yeh added.

According to the WHO's latest update on the swine flu outbreak, 30 countries had officially reported a total of 4,694 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection as of 2 p.m. Monday.

Mexico had reported 1,626 laboratory confirmed human cases of infection, including 48 deaths. The United States has reported 2,532 confirmed human cases, including three deaths, while Canada has reported 284 confirmed cases, including one death, and Costa Rica has reported eight confirmed cases, including one death.