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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS