The first case of tularemia in three years and the first brucellosis case in a decade were confirmed last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, urging the public to avoid contact with animals and to refrain from eating undercooked meat when traveling to areas where the diseases are spreading.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said the tularemia case, also known as rabbit fever, involved a woman in her 70s from southern Taiwan with chronic kidney disease, hypertension and diabetes.
She developed a fever and general weakness on July 12. Whole-genome sequencing of bacteria from blood cultures confirmed the diagnosis, Lee said, adding that the woman has been discharged from hospital.
Photo: CNA
Contact tracing found no evidence that the woman had traveled abroad, engaged in outdoor activities, had direct contact with animals, owned pets or lived near high-risk areas during the incubation period, Lee said.
This is the nation’s third tularemia case since the disease was made reportable in 2007, she added.
Separately, an imported brucellosis case was reported in a man in his 50s who had traveled in April to China’s Xinjiang region, where he came into direct contact with goats and horses at a local market. He developed a fever, chills and other symptoms early last month, Lee said.
CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said the man did not wash his hands after touching the animals, initially self-medicating with cold medicine before seeking medical care several times at clinics. He was later referred to a hospital, where he was diagnosed and treated.
While five cases of brucellosis were reported in 2011, since it became a reportable disease in 2012, the nation has recorded only two imported cases, Lee said, adding that no locally acquired cases have been reported.
Rabbit fever and brucellosis are zoonotic diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans, although they are rarely reported, Lee said.
Rabbit fever, which typically infects rabbits, hares, rodents and other mammals, is found in regions including North America, Europe and parts of Asia and the Middle East, he said.
It spreads among animals, or from animals to humans, through the bites of blood-sucking arthropods such as ticks and deer flies, he said, adding that people can also contract the disease by consuming contaminated food or water, or inhaling contaminated soil.
Symptoms usually arise three to five days after exposure, but can take up to 14 days, Lin said.
Common symptoms include fever and chills, with other signs — such as abdominal pain, vomiting or diarrhea — depending on the route of infection, he added.
Brucellosis is more frequently reported in parts of Asia, Africa and the Mediterranean region, and primarily affects cattle, goats, sheep and pigs, he said.
Humans can be infected through wounds or mucos membranes that come into contact with infected animals, or by consuming contaminated, unpasteurized dairy products.
Symptoms typically arise one to two months after exposure, but can take as long as five months. They include fever, headache, loss of appetite, fatigue and muscle and joint pain, which resemble influenza, he said.
Untreated infections can cause severe, long-term complications in the genitourinary or nervous systems, or lead to endocarditis — inflammation of the heart’s inner lining.
The CDC advises avoiding direct contact with animals, and refraining from eating raw or undercooked food, or consuming unpasteurized dairy products, when visiting areas where zoonotic diseases are present, he said.
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