An Asian house shrew has been confirmed to have been infected with rabies, the Cabinet’s Council of Agriculture (COA) said last night.
The Asian house shrew, or money shrew, was caught last week in a house in Taitung County. A woman there was first suspected of having been bitten by the animal, but was later found to be free of any bite marks, the council said.
Until the infected shrew, all 14 cases of animal infections had been found in wild Formosan ferret-badgers, covering 12 townships or districts in six counties and cities in central and southern Taiwan, the council said.
Photo: Mandy Cheng, AFP
Since Taiwan reported its first rabies cases on July 16, of the 14 cases involving Formosan ferret-badgers from the mountainous areas, Nantou County has accounted for seven, the council said. Nearby Greater Taichung and Yunlin County have reported one each, while Greater Tainan has reported one and Greater Kaohsiung has reported two. Taitung County has reported two cases so far.
Of the two most recent confirmed cases involving ferret-badgers, one had bitten a nine-year-old girl living in Nantou County’s Renai Township (仁愛).
The girl was vaccinated immediately afterward.
“And since the ferret-badger involved in the biting has been confirmed to be infected, human rabies immune globulin (HRIG) has also been administered to the girl,” Centers for Disease Control (CD) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
The other case was found in Greater Kaohsiung’s Meinong District (美濃), Chuang added.
Speaking before the shrew had been found to have been infected, CDC Director-General Chang Feng-yee (張峰義) had emphasized that the rabies outbreaks were so far still restricted to a single species, ferret-badgers.
“Since 1999, the year we started to conduct monitoring and surveillance for rabies, no dogs [or cats or bats] have been tested positive for the virus,” Chang said.
The center also reported that during the 24-hour period through 4pm on Monday, 100 more people who have suffered animal bites or scratches have asked for rabies vaccine, raising the total to 245 since July 21. Among them, 115 have been approved to use of the vaccine and 16 to use HRIG.
Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Director Chang Su-san (張淑賢) said that given that all infected animals have been found in mountainous areas, local authorities will step up their efforts to vaccinate cats and dogs living in the mountains and round up stray dogs and immunize them.
When asked whether the council has considered dropping oral vaccines attached to food as bait to attract wild animals from the air in the mountains to control any outbreak of rabies among wildlife, as the US and some European countries, such as Belgium, France and Germany, have done, she said that the competent authority has to first go through a whole series of evaluations before undertaking such preventive measures, and the measures have not yet been decided.
The World Organization for Animal Health announced on Friday that it has listed Taiwan as a rabies-affected area.
Taiwan had been free of rabies since 1961.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned