The first case of hantavirus hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Taiwan this year was reported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday.
The case involved a migrant worker in his 20s who works on a fishing boat and has not visited other nations recently, the agency said.
The man on Aug. 3 began exhibiting the symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea and fatigue, and was hospitalized after seeking treatment on Aug. 5, it said.
Photo: CNA
The case was reported to the agency due to the man’s abnormal liver and kidney functions, it added.
The man has been discharged and the people who have had direct contact with him have shown no signs of infection, CDC physician Su Chia-ping (蘇家彬) said, adding that a local health department inspected his home and workplace, and implemented rat control and sanitation measures.
A rat captured on the fishing boat the man works on has tested positive for hantavirus, Su said.
House shrews and brown rats are the two types of animals most commonly associated with the disease in Taiwan, he said, adding that brown rats are one of the most common rodents seen in cities, with about 15 percent of them carrying hantaviruses.
Hantaviruses are carried and transmitted by rodents, and people can become infected and develop HFRS after exposure to the aerosolized urine, droppings or saliva of infected rodents, as well as objects contaminated or bitten by infected rodents, he added.
The incubation period of HFRS can range from a few days to two months, Su said.
Initial symptoms include a continuous fever; inflammation or redness of the eyes; weakness; back and abdominal pain; headaches; loss of appetite; vomiting; and flushing of the face, he said, adding that more advanced symptoms include low blood pressure, excess proteins in urine and low urine output, while some people could also experience acute shock or acute kidney failure.
The best methods to prevent HFRS are proper rat control and keeping living and public spaces clean and sanitized, as well as wearing a mask and rubber gloves and opening windows if rodent droppings are found — in which case the area should be disinfected with diluted bleach, Su said.
In related news, the CDC said that a scrub typhus rapid test kit — developed by its Vector-borne Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Laboratory from 2015 to 2017 and publicized in a medical journal last year — was awarded a patent on July 30.
The kit can analyze 96 samples in four hours — outpacing the current system, which can only examine 60 samples in four hours — enhancing early detection of the disease, it said.
A total of 270 cases of scrub typhus have been confirmed this year and about 350 to 500 cases were reported annually over the past five years, it said, adding that most of the cases occurred in Kaohsiung and Taitung, Hualien, Penghu, Kinmen and Nantou counties.
The agency also confirmed a case of severe complications from enterovirus infection involving a two-year-old boy in northern Taiwan last week.
It urged parents not to take their children to school if they have been diagnosed with an enterovirus infection to prevent the transmission of the disease.
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