Wed, Feb 21, 2024 page1

• CDC reports year’s first typhoid fever, measles cases

  • By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
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  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported this year’s first locally acquired case of typhoid fever, a day after reporting the year’s first locally acquired measles case.

  The typhoid fever case is a woman in her 20s living in northern Taiwan who has not visited other countries recently, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said.

  She began experiencing symptoms on Feb. 2 and a test result on Friday confirmed that she had contracted the disease, Lee said, adding that the woman is being treated in a hospital.

  

  Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo speaks to reporters at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times

  Forty-nine typhoid fever cases have been reported in Taiwan since 2019, with 18 local cases and 31 imported cases, she said.

  The woman began vomiting and had diarrhea early this month, and after developing a fever while the diarrhea persisted, she was admitted to an emergency room on Tuesday last week, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.

  Contact tracing showed that the woman had eaten raw oysters and fish at a harbor in northern Taiwan, which could be the source of her infection, Lin said, adding that transmission usually occurs through ingestion of food or water contaminated with Salmonella Typhi, or raw or undercooked seafood harvested from contaminated waters.

  CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said the center would not identify the seafood restaurant where she dined, as a link between it and the disease has not been confirmed.

  The incubation period of typhoid fever is usually one to two weeks, but can range from three to 60 days, while the fatality rate, which can be up to 10 percent if untreated, can be lower than 1 percent if treated with antibiotics, Lin said.

  People can still be contagious long after recovering from typhoid fever, so the woman would be required to undergo follow-up tests after recovery, he said.

  Maintaining good food and hand hygiene, avoiding eating undercooked food and boiling water can help prevent infection, he said.

  On Monday afternoon, the CDC said in a news release that this year’s first local case of measles was reported in a man in his 30s living in northern Taiwan who had not traveled abroad recently.

  After developing a fever on Monday last week, the man sought treatment the next day, but continued to have a fever, coughing and a sore throat after going home, the centers said.

  He sought treatment again on Thursday last week after developing rashes, and was diagnosed with measles and kept in isolation in a hospital, it said.

  A local health department is conducting contact tracing, and so far 199 close contacts have been identified and would be monitored until March 4, it said.

  People who were at conveyor-belt sushi restaurant chain Kura Sushi’s Zhubei Wenxing Branch (竹北文興店) in Hsinchu County between 2pm and 3:30pm on Feb. 11 should monitor their health until Thursday next week, and wear a mask and seek medical attention immediately if they develop a fever, rhinitis, inflamed eyes, rashes or other suspected symptoms of measles, the CDC said.

  As measles is highly contagious, people who were at that restaurant at the time are at risk of infection and should monitor their health, Lo said.

  The CDC yesterday also reported 711 hospitalizations for COVID-19 last week, the highest weekly number in six months, as well as 103,250 hospital visits for influenza-like illnesses, 40 serious flu complications and five flu-related deaths.

  Flu during the Lunar New Year holiday was not as prevalent as predicted, but cases of flu-like illnesses and COVID-19 are expected to increase, Lo said.

  Cases could reach another peak next week or the following week, as infection risk is likely to increase due to schools opening, lantern festival events, and an increase in international and domestic travel, he said.

  In other news, as no mpox cases have been reported in Taiwan for 14 weeks, it can be considered eliminated in the country under WHO guidelines, he said.

  However, as mpox can still be brought in by international travelers, Lo urged people at a higher risk of infection, especially the 27,214 people who received the first dose of vaccine, but did not get a second dose, to get vaccinated.
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