Taiwan man to be treated for malaria in Malawi

A Taiwanese man who recently contracted malaria in Malawi has returned to Taiwan to receive treatment, the first non-domestic malaria case of the year, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.

The 55 year-old man contracted the tropical disease after being bitten by a mosquito when he was inspecting a road project in Malawi, said Lin Ting, deputy director general of the DOH's Center for Disease Control (CDC).

The man returned to Taiwan at the end of last year, which Lin said had nothing to do with the Taiwan government's decision a day earlier to cut diplomatic ties with Malawi, which recently switched recognition to China.

Some of the man's colleagues were also infected, Lin went on.

Taiwan has been free of malaria since 1965, according to Lin, who added that non-domestic malaria cases reported in the country mainly come from Southeast Asia, Africa and Oceania.