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Rabies cases all
involved ferret-badgers
WARNING: The public have been advised to avoid
contact with wild animals, to not abandon their pets and to have domestic
animals vaccinated against rabies
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
All six recently confirmed cases of rabies in Taiwan involved wild Formosan
ferret-badgers, the Council of Agriculture¡¦s Bureau of Animal and Plant Health
Inspection and Quarantine said yesterday, adding that another suspected case has
been listed after a house shrew tested positive for the rabies-like lyssavirus.
Lyssavirus is a group of viruses that includes the rabies virus, bureau director
Chang Su-san (±i²Q½å) said, adding that the house shrew tested positive for
lyssavirus type 3 and that further test results will be released next week.
The house shrew attacked a woman at her home in Taitung County on Wednesday, but
she later killed it.
Chang said the woman was not bitten by the shrew and was not hospitalized, but
5,000 doses of rabies vaccine for pets were sent to the Taitung county
government yesterday morning.
Responding to questions on whether the rabies virus had spread from wild animals
in mountainous areas to urban animals, following the case of the shrew, Chang
said it was not yet confirmed that the house shrew had rabies.
She added that the bureau has instructed local governments to increase rat
prevention measures as well as capture stray animals for rabies vaccinations.
The bureau, meanwhile, confirmed that the rabies virus was detected in two dead
wild Formosan ferret-badgers found on Friday ¡X one that was hit by a car in
Taitung County¡¦s Donghe Township (ªFªe) and the other reported by a dog owner in
Nantou County¡¦s Shueili Township (¤ô¨½) after his dogs brought home a dead
ferret-badger.
Chang said the two dogs that fetched the dead ferret-badger are being
quarantined.
The bureau urged the public to avoid contact with wild animals, not to abandon
their pets and to have domestic animals vaccinated against rabies. People should
also report any findings of dead animals, it added.
During a visit to the Central Epidemic Command Center in Taipei yesterday
morning, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (¦¿©y¾ì) urged government agencies to work together
to prevent the spread of rabies, after its the reappearance in Taiwan after more
than 50 years.
Jiang said the government is stepping up efforts to catch and vaccinate stray
animals in Nantou, Yunlin and Taitung counties, where the six infections
occurred.
Some local government officials have blamed the central government for a lack of
preemptive measures.
¡§It seems like the central government is not doing enough prevention work and
can only ask us to send animals in for testing,¡¨ said Taitung County Agriculture
Department director Wu Ching-jung (§d¼yºa).
Additional reporting by staff writer
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