TAIPEI: Taiwan expects its battle against the A (H1N1) influenza to be a protracted affair, extending for as long as 200 weeks, Department of Health (DOH) chief Yaung Chih-liang said yesterday.

It's been predicted that the human swine flue virus could infect some 30 percent of Taiwan's population. That would mean about 7 million people could be affected but it's unlikely that they would be hit all at once, Yaung said.

"If 30,000 people are infected per week, the outbreak will last for at least 200 weeks," he said at a news conference.

Yaung expressed confidence that Taiwan can handle the situation well, noting that the new type of flu is not incurable, though slightly more severe than the normal seasonal flu.

The results of a computer simulation generated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reveal that there have likely been 15,000 new cases of the virus in the past week.

As of Wednesday, Taiwan had recorded 47 severe infections of A (H1N1) flu. Five of the cases resulted in death, according to the CDC.

Yaung said compared with other jurisdictions in the region, the situation in Taiwan has remained moderate.

For example, he said, Australia has seen 132 people die from the disease, and fatalities in Malaysia and Singapore have reached 63 and 12, respectively.

The health chief dismissed as fear mongering the claim by certain media outlets that the government's measure to allow civil servants to take leave of absence to take care of flu-infected family members will result in a shortage of staff to deal with the epidemic.

Purveyors of such false reports may be subject to fines of up to NT$500,000 under the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act and the DOH will consider taking action against those media.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 08/28/2009 page2)