A woman in eastern Taiwan last month was potentially exposed to rabies from a ferret-badger she found inside her home.
The woman discovered the animal on March 27 and tried to give it water, but it attacked her, and some of its saliva splashed into her eyes, the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) said.
The next day, she found the animal’s body, which made her wonder about its illness.
She sought treatment at a local clinic, and the ferret-badger’s body was sent to the Council of Agriculture's animal research institute for testing.
The dead animal tested positive for rabies, the CDC said.
The woman, who has not been identified, was given a rabies immunoglobulin shot and has since received three shots of rabies vaccine and continues to be monitored by doctors, the agency said, adding that she has not shown any signs of infection.
The CDC reminded the public once again to avoid contact with wild animals.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said that 15 rabid ferret-badgers have been found so far this year in Hualien, Nantou and Taitung counties as well as Kaohsiung, Chiayi and Tainan.
Rabies has a post-infection mortality rate of nearly 100 percent; its latency period ranges from one to three months, but it can be as long as six months, Lo said.
Anyone who is bitten or scratched by a wild animal, including stray dogs and cats, should immediately wash the wound with soap and water for 15 minutes, apply iodine or 70 percent alcohol solution and immediately seek medical attention, the CDC said.
Treatment consists of one injection of immunoglobulin, followed by five vaccinations — on days one, three, seven, 14 and 28, Lo said.
There has been no confirmed cases of rabies infection in humans this year and all three known cases of rabies in humans in Taiwan since 2002 were imported, the CDC said.
A case in 2002 and another in 2012 involved people who were infected in China, while one in 2013 involved a person who was infected in the Philippines; all three died, it said.
Taiwan was listed as a rabies-free nation for more than 50 years, until the Council of Agriculture admitted in 2013 that the bodies of three ferret-badgers that had died of rabies were found in 2012 in Yunlin County’s Gukeng (古坑) and in Yuchi (魚池) and Lugu (鹿谷) in Nantou County.
The first case of a person being bitten by a wild Formosan ferret-badger infected with rabies occurred in Taitung County’s Donghe Township (東河) in July 2013.
Hundreds of rabid animals, predominantly ferret-badgers, have been reported in Taiwan since then.
Additional reporting by staff reporter
This article has been corrected since it was first published to clarify that the Hualian woman has not contracted rabies, but was only exposed to a rabid animal’s saliva.
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