National Influenza Center (NIC)

July 5, 2006 marks the third anniversary of Taiwan’s removal from the WHO list of SARS-affected areas. The Taiwan CDC has chosen this auspicious date to hold the opening ceremony at its Kunyang facility for its new affiliate – the Taiwan National Influenza Center (Taiwan NIC). The Taiwan NIC has five major goals: 1. Integrate all current influenza surveillance, notification and laboratory analysis systems throughout Taiwan to enhance our epidemic data collection process. 2. Carefully monitor new types of flu virus and the viral antigen variation trends; providing references to vaccine strain selection. 3. Prepare antibodies against local flu virus strains to facilitate virus diagnoses and typing. 4. Every flu season, publish a periodical in both Chinese and English for the general public entitled “Influenza Express”. 5. Provide a platform to exchange information with other NICs across the world.