Three Formosan ferret-badgers have been confirmed as having had rabies, the first time the virus has been detected in Miaoli County, the local Animal Care and Health Office said on Thursday.
As part of a program being carried out by the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine to assess the prevalence of rabies among wild animal across Taiwan, two Formosan ferret-badgers were captured in Jhuolan Township (卓蘭) on Jan. 1 and Jan. 7, and a third was caught in Taian Township (泰安) on Jan. 18, the office said.
The three animals died in captivity and were later confirmed by the Animal Health Research Institute as having been infected with the rabies virus, the office said.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
The three ferret-badgers are the first rabies cases discovered north of the Daan River (大安溪) — which partly defines the Miaoli County-Taichung border — since 2013, which indicates that the virus is spreading across the river, office Director Chang Chun-yi (張俊義) said.
To prevent rabies from spreading among cats and dogs in the area, the office would go door-to-door to administer free vaccinations for pets, Chang said, adding that residents should have their animals neutered and microchipped.
Animal patrols would be stepped up in the county and the office would capture stray dogs in high-risk areas to be placed in secure facilities and vaccinated against rabies if necessary, he said.
People should report animal carcasses they find to the office, not dispose of them on their own, he added.
Anyone bitten or scratched by a stray animal should clean the wound with soap and water for at least 15 minutes and disinfect the area with 70 percent alcohol before seeking urgent medical treatment and reporting the case to their local township office or animal care facility, the office said.
Miaoli County Commissioner Chung Tung-chin (鍾東錦) called on the public not to abandon pets and not to touch or catch wild animals.
It is imperative that people take their pets to receive shots every year to help prevent the spread of rabies among animals and thereby ensure it does not jump from animals to humans, Chung said.
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
RSS