A rumor about finding fleas or insect eggs with plague-causing bacteria on products purchased online from China is false, the Centers for Disease Control said yesterday.
The centers said on Friday that China confirmed a fourth case of the plague. A person living in Inner Mongolia ate raw wild rabbit and was infected with bubonic plague, one of three types of the plague.
The first case was confirmed in September after a person living in Gansu Province died of septicemic plague, followed by two cases of pneumonic plague contracted by a married couple in Inner Mongolia on Nov. 12, the CDC said.
Photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control
The centers said the Beijing Municipal Health Commission does not consider the fourth case to be associated with the second and third cases.
In response to the rumor that fleas or insect eggs with plague bacterium might be brought into Taiwan from clothes purchased online from China, the CDC yesterday said that the plague cannot be transmitted in this way.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said that when a flea bites an infected rat or mouse, the plague-causing bacteria Yersinia pestis enters the digestive tract of the flea and forms a biofilm in the foregut, causing the flea’s digestive tract to be blocked.
The infected flea starves because of the blocked digestive tract and starts biting animals, transmitting the bacteria to new hosts, he said, adding that therefore, infected fleas would not be found on clothes or packaging materials.
Lo said that cargo ships or aircraft have a higher chance of transmitting the plague if live rodents or other vectors are on board. In response, the CDC has enhanced quarantine measures at harbors and airports.
To lower the risk of infection, the CDC urged people not to approach rodents, eat raw meat or touch dead animals when visiting Inner Mongolia or areas where the plague might be spreading.
The centers also asked people to report to the centers’ airport quarantine stations and seek medical assistance if they feel any discomfort after returning to Taiwan.
Additional reporting by CNA
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to