A woman in her 60s who arrived from Sweden was last week confirmed to be the first case of Lyme disease in Taiwan this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
The woman, who had been living in Sweden since May 2024, arrived on March 17 and was confirmed to have Lyme disease after seeking treatment for symptoms, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said.
The woman told medical staff that she had visited a forest near her home in Sweden where she was bitten by insects, and that she sought treatment for red rashes on March 10 and was diagnosed with Lyme disease, Lee said.
Photo: CNA
As Lyme disease has been listed as a notifiable disease since 2007, after she sought treatment, the confirmed infection was reported to the CDC and deemed an imported case, Lee said.
Twenty-one cases of the disease have been reported since 2007 — all imported, with zero to three cases each year, she said, adding that 13 (61.9 percent) of the cases were from the US, while others were from Sweden, the UK, France and other European countries.
Lyme disease is not endemic in Taiwan, as it typically spreads in temperate zones, and the bacterium that causes the disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, is spread to humans through the bite of infected ticks and does not spread from human to human, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.
While early on Lyme disease exhibits cold-like symptoms — such as headache, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain and swollen lymph nodes — a distinctive symptom called erythema migrans is an expanding circular red rash that appears on the skin at the site of the tick bite site, usually within three to 30 days, he said.
The rash appears in 70 to 80 percent of cases, he added.
The rash usually disappears on its own within three to four weeks even without treatment, but it does not mean the infection is gone, Lin said.
If left untreated, the bacteria can spread to the joints, the heart and the nervous system, causing long-term illness even up to several years later, he said.
People should take preventive measures while outdoors in areas where Lyme disease is present, and should change their clothing, check for signs of insect bites and take a bath as soon as possible after returning home, Lin said.
Meanwhile, while local COVID-19 activity remained low, hospitalized cases are still being reported each week, and the disease is still spreading globally, CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesman Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said.
After referencing vaccination recommendations in other countries, as well as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ recommendations, the CDC is allowing high-risk groups to get a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine at least six months (180 days) after their previous dose, starting from yesterday.
The eligible high-risk groups include people aged 65 or older, indigenous people aged 55 or older, and immunosuppressed or immunocompromised people, she said.
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