# 7529
Up until June of this year, Taiwan was considered to be rabies free (along with Iceland, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland), Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii, and Guam). The last report of rabies on the island was in 1959, and Taiwan received its rabies free designation in 1961.
But that status abruptly changed with the filing of an OIE report on July 17th citing three dead ferret badgers (collected in 2012) that had tested positive for an untyped lyssavirus over the summer.
The following day (July 18th) Taiwan’s Department of Health convenes emergency ACIP meeting to amend recommendations for rabies vaccination.
With rabies confirmed on the island, testing of animals increased, and within a couple of weeks the number of positive cases had jumped to 14.
Rabies cases rise to 14
2013/07/30 12:34:18
Focus Taiwan
(EXCERPT)
As of July 29, a total of 52 wild carnivorous animals had been tested for rabies and 14 were reported positive, it noted.
All of the 14 cases involved Formosan ferret-badgers from the mountainous areas, with seven cases reported in Nantou County, one each in Yunlin County, Taichung City, and Tainan City, and two each in Kaohsiung City and Taitung County, according to the council.
Prompting this announcement last Monday (July 29th):
Today, news reports indicate that this particular lyssavirus has been subtyped, and it appears to be related to strains endemic in China.
Taiwan's rabies virus closest to China type
2013/07/30 22:02:21
Taipei, July 30 (CNA) The virus type of the fourth case of a rabies-infected Formosan ferret-badger in Taiwan is 91-92 percent similar to that found in China, a sign that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait share the same source of the virus, the Council of Agriculture's Animal Health Research Institute said Tuesday.
The latest test was in line with earlier tests carried out by the institute that showed the virus found in the first three local cases were 88-92 percent similar to the Chinese virus
Today we learn that a woman was bitten by a house shrew last week, and that it too has tested positive for rabies.
COA confirms rabies in Taitung house shrew
By Joy Lee ,The China Post
July 31, 2013, 12:15 am TWNTAIPEI, Taiwan -- A house shrew that bit a woman in Taitung City on July 24 has been confirmed to have been a carrier of the rabies virus, according to the Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday.
The COA said that this is the first confirmed cross-species rabies infection since the first ferret-badger with rabies was discovered earlier this month.
The council also announced yesterday that two more ferret-badgers have been confirmed to have the rabies virus, bringing the national total of rabies cases to 15.
With vaccines for pets reportedly in short supply, some people have taken to abandoning their animals. Yesterday, in the face of increasing public anxiety, Taiwan’s CDC issued the following press release:
In response to the ongoing rabies outbreak in wild animals in Taiwan, the sixth meeting convened by the inter-ministerial working group was held on July 30, 2013. According to statistics compiled by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC), between 4pm on July 28 and 4pm on July 29, 2013, a total of 100 new animal bite cases applying for rabies vaccine were received.
Of the applications, 49 have been approved, including 5 applications from Taipei, 4 applications from northern Taiwan, 12 applications from central Taiwan, 15 applications from southern Taiwan, 8 applications from Kaohsiung and Pingtung, 4 applications from eastern Taiwan, and 1 application from out of the country. Between 4pm on July 21 and 4pm on July 29, 2013, an accumulative total of 245 animal bite cases applying for rabies vaccine were received. Of the applications, 115 have been approved, including 7 applications from Taipei, 9 applications from northern Taiwan, 33 applications from central Taiwan, 25 applications from southern Taiwan, 14 applications from Kaohsiung and Pingtung, 20 applications from eastern Taiwan, and 7 applications from out of the country. 16 applications were approved for the use of human rabies immune globulin (HRIG) and 5 of them have received the prophylaxis.
According to Taiwan CDC, rabies is widely distributed around the world, with only 9 countries being free of the disease. Rabies cases primarily occur in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The United States and a number of countries in Europe are also affected by rabies. Nevertheless, as long as relevant prevention activities are carefully implemented, the occurrence of human rabies cases remains rare. Currently, the distribution of rabies in Taiwan is only limited to wild animals. As a result, the public is urged not to panic. The government has procured sufficient human rabies vaccine and HRIG and planned to continue to purchase more to ensure the recommended target groups for rabies vaccination and frontline health workers can all receive the vaccine. In addition, to ensure the public has access to most current and accurate information on rabies prevention and control, Taiwan CDC has set up a rabies website and uploaded relevant health education and health promotion materials, including posters, brochures, and newsflash, to the website. More health education and health promotion materials will be developed and uploaded to the website for public reference.
To effectively prevent rabies, Taiwan CDC reminds the public to take heed of the following three preventive actions against rabies:
1. Avoid animal bite: Avoid contact with wild animals and do not pick up sickened animals or animal carcasses and report sightings of sickened animals or animal carcasses to local animal epidemic prevention agencies or the Council of Agriculture (COA) through calling the hotline: 0800-761-590.
2. When bitten or scratched by animals, please remember to take the following 4 steps:
1.Remember: Try to remain calm and remember the characteristics of the biting animal; 2. Wash: Immediately wash the wound with soap and an ample amount of clean water for 15 minutes and then disinfect the wound with iodine or 70% alcohol; 3. Seek: Seek prompt medical attention for proper evaluation and treatment to reduce the risk of infection; and 4. Observe: Try to detain the biting animal for a 10-day observation if possible. However, do not risk capturing the animal if it gets violent.
3. Seek medical attention when bitten or scratched by animals: Please seek medical assistance at one of the 28 hospitals with a stockpile or rabies vaccine, which can be found in every city and county in the nation.
Taiwan CDC reminds clinicians who encounter wild animal bite cases to remember to record the location where the bite occurred, the animal species that made the bite, and whether the animal has been retained for observation. If a patient is qualified for post-exposure vaccination, please contact a Taiwan CDC Regional Center to facilitate the application for rabies vaccines. For more information on rabies prevention, please visit the Taiwan CDC’s website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Care Hotline, 1922, or 0800-024582 if calling from a cell phone. For more information on outbreaks of animal diseases, please call the COA’s hotline, 0800-761-590.
And for our last stop: According to the World Health Organization, rabies still exacts a terrible toll each year around the globe, killing tens of thousands.
Rabies
Fact Sheet N°99
Updated July 2013Key facts
- Rabies occurs in more than 150 countries and territories.
- More than 55 000 people die of rabies every year mostly in Asia and Africa.
- 40% of people who are bitten by suspect rabid animals are children under 15 years of age.
- Dogs are the source of the vast majority of human rabies deaths.
- Wound cleansing and immunization within a few hours after contact with a suspect rabid animal can prevent the onset of rabies and death.
- Every year, more than 15 million people worldwide receive a post-exposure vaccination to prevent the disease– this is estimated to prevent hundreds of thousands of rabies deaths annually.
