The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine last week warned the public not to touch wild animals after the Veterinary Research Institute found type-2 Lyssavirus in a Chinese noctule bat that flew into a residence in Jhonghe District (中和) last month.
While Lyssavirus is not defined as an infectious disease in Taiwan, it is still dangerous as it is transmissible to humans, the bureau said.
There are 17 types of Lyssavirus, including rabies, the bureau said, adding that type-2 Lyssavirus is unrelated to rabies and similar to the Lyssavirus found in Chinese Noctule bats in 2018.
Photo courtesy of the Center Disease and Control
It had found type-1 Lyssavirus on four Japanese houseboats between 2016 and 2022, it said.
The bureau said that bats are natural Lyssavirus hosts. If people sees bats on the road, they should not touch them, but instead alert a local animal quarantine office or other bat conservation groups.
Bureau deputy director-general Hsu Jung-pin (徐榮彬) said Lyssavirus is transmitted neurally and the public should avoid situations that put them at risk of being bitten.
However, if they are bitten they should visit a hospital immediately and ask to be given a rabies vaccine, he added.
Centers of Disease and Control (CDC) spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said the individual who found the bat had not been bitten, and after an assessment, the CDC deemed them to not be at risk.
Tseng urged members of the public not to touch or capture wild animals, and if they are pet owners, to take their pets to a veterinarian for their annual rabies shot.
She said that if members of the public have been scratched or bitten by wild animals, they should clean the wound with soap and large amounts of fresh water for 15 minutes and sanitize the wound with hydrogen peroxide or 70 percent-proof alcohol.
After cleansing the wound, they should visit a hospital or a local health center to receive a rabies vaccine.
‘OBNOXIOUS MAN’: The KMT’s Chen Ching-hui moved into Chung Chia-pin’s path atop the podium and reached for him before he grabbed at her legs with both hands Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) yesterday said he slipped and lost his balance, and did not know who was around him, after jumping onto the speaker’s podium at the legislature in Taipei. He apologized after a collision with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽), who moved to intercept him as he mounted the podium. There was pushing and shoving when the session started in the morning as KMT lawmakers attempted to block access to the podium to shield Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) so he could preside over the session. Video footage showed Chung step on a chair and
Police officers yesterday morning apprehended the prime suspect of a triple homicide case, after raiding the suspect’s hideout in Taichung. They transported the suspect to New Taipei City for questioning and recorded his statement last night. The suspect, identified as a 24-year-old man surnamed Chang (張), is believed to have used his hands to strangle his wife, surnamed Chen (陳), 29, along with his three-year-old son from a previous marriage and his wife’s mother, 69. The three dead bodies were wrapped in blankets when they were discovered inside their apartment in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) on Saturday. Chang was holding a
Hungarian Member of Parliament Tompos Marton said he considers Taiwan to be a better alternative to China as a strategic partner. Marton, who is the vice president of the opposition Momentum Party, made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency on Sunday. He draped a Republic of China flag across his shoulders to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to the capital city, Budapest, on Thursday last week, and openly voiced support for Taiwan on social media. He said in the interview that he wanted to remind the world that there were alternatives to China, and that “Taiwan has
A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday. The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said. The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department. In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight