The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday announced the nation’s first case of superbug NDM-1, but said quarantine would not be necessary, a decision that was strongly criticized by the former director of the agency.
Describing the Taiwanese man as a healthy, asymptomatic carrier, the CDC said the patient was recovering well and quarantine would not be required.
CDC Deputy Director-General Shih Wen-yi (施文儀) said the man was one of two Taiwanese wounded in New Delhi on Sept. 19, while working as part of a camera crew on a food documentary for a show on cable channel TVBS.
In the incident, two attackers on a motorbike opened fire outside New Delhi’s main mosque, shooting at a minibus hired by the crew.
CDC officials said the bacteria were found in the form of colonization in the patient’s intestinal tract, which meant that it was not a -category-four communicable disease. Although the man carries the bacteria, he shows no symptoms of the disease, nor does he need to be quarantined, officials said.
The victim’s anal swabs tested positive for the bacteria, but the superbug was not found in samples taken from his urine or gunshot wound, Shih said.
Shih said the infection was most likely a result of receiving surgery and medical treatment in the hospital in India, rather than an indigenous case. The NDM-1 superbug has not been found in the man’s travel companions.
The man, who was hospitalized at Taipei Veterans General Hospital on Monday last week, has now returned home.
CDC officials will follow up with check-ups on the man’s condition every week.
“The patient is recovering well [from the gunshot] and his daily activities are not affected,” Shih said. “Those living in his community need not worry about being infected by the bacteria.”
The CDC said it was still important to maintain good hygiene habits, and added that it had informed the WHO of this case.
The new strain of bacteria, named New Delhi metallo-beta--lactamase-1, is resistant to all known antibiotics and was listed as a category-four communicable disease by the Department of Health last month, meaning that hospitals and clinics must immediately report any suspected cases.
As NDM-1 is not an airborne disease, patients diagnosed with the bug do not need to be quarantined or kept in isolated hospital wards, though doctors must inform the health authorities about the cases, Shih said.
Doctors should notify the CDC or its local branches within 24 hours of seeing a patient who has received invasive surgery, has traveled abroad — to India and Pakistan in particular — over the past six months and whose samples show resistance to Carbapenem antibiotics.
Meanwhile, former CDC director Su Ih-jen (蘇益仁), who is now deputy superintendent at National Cheng Kung University Hospital, said the situation was serious and should have been dealt with differently.
The fact that the patient failed to exhibit any symptoms of infection such as diarrhea, indicating that the bacteria was non-toxic, was secondary to the potential for the drug-resistance of the introduced bacteria to be passed on to native bacteria in Taiwan, he said.
Su said that if the drug-resistant bacteria were present in sufficient quantities in the excreta of the patient, the resistant gene could be replicated in native bacteria such as intestinal bacteria. Native bacterial pathogens might then develop drug-resistance. If members of the public became infected by these, it would cause severe problems, as the resulting illnesses would be difficult to treat, he said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS