The risk of contracting a new type of eye disease by covert mortality nodavirus (CMNV) via exposure to farmed shrimp from China is extremely low in Taiwan, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, responding to concerns spreading online.
CMNV is listed by the World Organization for Animal Health as an emerging infectious disease, with outbreaks reported in China and Thailand, it said.
The CDC said it has noticed discussions online citing a study published in the scientific journal Nature Microbiology, saying that a virus that typically infects marine animals is suspected of jumping to humans and causing chronic eye disease in some people.
.Photo: Lin Huei-chin, Taipei Times
The study — published last month — they cited is titled “An emerging human eye disease is associated with aquatic virus zoonotic infection,” which said that a human ocular disease called persistent ocular hypertensive viral anterior uveitis (POH-VAU) is associated with CMNV of aquatic origin.
The study recruited 70 people diagnosed with POH-VAU in China between January 2022 and April last year for blood testing and interviews and showed that CMNV exposure frequency, number of severe exposures and exposure severity were associated with an increased risk of POH-VAU.
The CDC yesterday said suspected human CMNV infections have only been reported in China, in 18 aquaculture-heavy provinces.
Major international public health organizations, including the WHO, the US CDC and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have not reported any CMNV-related cases, nor have they listed it as an urgent threat, the centers said.
The CDC said it assesses the risk of CMNV transmission in Taiwan as extremely low, but it would continue to monitor the situation with agricultural agencies.
The study said human CMNV infection might be associated with the handling or consumption of raw seafood, but evidence is still needed to confirm whether the virus is capable of infecting human ocular tissues, it said.
There have been no reports of large-scale outbreaks among humans or community spread of CMNV globally, the CDC said, adding that there is no evidence indicating that the consumption of thoroughly cooked seafood can cause infection.
While continuing to monitor for outbreaks around the world, the centers are developing detection and testing methods for humans and establishing criteria for specimen collection and submission, to enable risk monitoring and early warning, it said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency’s monitoring data shows there have been no confirmed cases of CMNV in shrimp farms in Taiwan, the CDC said.
The CDC advises travelers to these areas to exercise caution and take precautionary measures, such as cooking seafood thoroughly, or avoiding raw seafood altogether if they are high-risk individuals with chronic health conditions.
They should wear gloves when handling fresh seafood, it said, adding that if they are handling raw ingredients with open wounds, they should avoid direct contact and always wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water afterward to minimize the risk of pathogen exposure.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS