Taipei - Taiwan on Saturday was testing 26 people who flew to the island after being co-passengers with a Mexican on an earlier flight who was infected with swine flu. "Twenty-seven people, including eight Chinese mainlanders, flew on the China Eastern Airlines' Shanghai-Hong Kong flight Thursday and then took seven flights to Taiwan on the same day," Health Minister Yeh Chin-chuan said at a news conference.
"We have contacted 26 of them and appeal to the last passenger to contact the Centres for Disease Control (CDC)," he said.
Those who have been exposed to the danger of being infected by epidmics but refuse to report to CDC, face a maxixum fine of 300,000 Taiwan dollars (nearly 9,000 US dollars), CDC Vice Director Shih Wen- yi said.
The 26 passengers who have been traced are taking tests in various hospitals.
"Unless we find a confirmed case of infection, we will release test results at 2 pm Sunday," he added.
Hong Kong identified the 25-year-old Mexican Friday night as its first swine-flu infection. He was taken to a hospital isolation ward and the hotel where he was staying was quarantined.
On Saturday, Taiwan issued a travel alert for Hong Kong and South Korea after they each confirmed one H1N1 infection.
South Korea said Saturday that a 51-year-old nun tested positive for the H1N1 virus upon her return from Mexico, the country hardest hit by the outbreak.
At Saturday's news conference, Yeh said H1N1 is bound to enter Taiwan but the public need not panic because the government is fully prepared to fight the virus.
