The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday reported the first case of Lyme disease this year — an American man who traveled to Taiwan last month to visit his relatives.
The man, who is in his 30s, came to Taiwan with his family on Nov. 27 and stayed in a quarantine hotel after arrival, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said.
However, as he developed joint pain, fatigue and muscle pain on Dec. 1, a local health department arranged for him to see a doctor and take a COVID-19 test on Dec. 6, Guo said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
The man reported to the doctor that he had been bitten by a tick in the US.
He tested negative for COVID-19, but positive for Lyme disease, Guo said, adding that his symptoms have since been relieved, while his family did not show any symptoms.
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be transmitted to humans by infected ticks that had bitten infected animals, but it cannot be transmitted through human-to-human contact, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.
The incubation period can range from three to 30 days, with an average of seven days, and about 70 to 80 percent of infected people develop erythema migrans — an expanding circular red rash around the bite, Lin said.
Other symptoms include a headache, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting and muscle pain, similar to a common cold, but if left untreated, the patient might develop heart or neurological problems, Lin said.
Ticks that transmit Lyme disease are mainly found in the temperate climate zone, such as in the US, especially in the northeast, Canada, Europe, Russia, South America, Japan, South Korea and China, he said.
There have been 17 imported cases of Lyme disease in Taiwan since the disease was designated as a category 4 notifiable communicable disease in 2007, he added.
People going outdoors in areas where the disease is spreading should wear light or bright-colored long sleeves and long pants, tuck in their shirts and pant legs, and apply insect repellent, he said.
They should use a tweezer to remove a tick if bitten and avoid twisting or jerking the insect to prevent parts of its mouth from breaking off and remaining in the skin, he added.
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