The nation reported its first confirmed case of hantavirus infection this year after a woman in central Taiwan tested positive for the virus, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
Health officials are investigating whether the case was part of a cluster infection, as another member of the household was diagnosed with the virus in November last year, the CDC said in a news release.
The woman is in stable condition and has been discharged from hospital, it added.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
She has no recent travel history, lives in a household that breeds white mice professionally, and her home is close to several farms, which exposes her to rodents and their excrement, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said.
Two of the woman’s nine contacts are under medical observation after developing a fever, while the rest have not shown any symptoms, he said.
Efforts to exterminate mice and track the infection vector were initiated in the area near her home, he added.
The woman began experiencing pain in her eye sockets, and developed fever and abdominal pain on Jan. 15. She went to a hospital the following day, which prescribed fever medication and home rest, the CDC said.
She was hospitalized on Jan. 17 after the initial treatment failed to improve her condition and follow-up bloodwork showed abnormally low platelet levels and liver damage, it said.
Disease control officials were alerted by the hospital and later confirmed that woman had hantavirus, it said.
The nation reported five hantavirus cases last year — two in Taipei and one case each in New Taipei City, Kaohsiung and Changhua County, the center said.
That brought the total number of cases since 2011 to 41, it said.
Men accounted for 30 of the cases (73 percent), and 29 of the infected were older than 40 (71 percent), it said, adding that one of the cases was imported from Indonesia.
Hantavirus is a zoonotic pathogen that spreads through inhalation or other forms of contact with infected rodent excrement or secretion via dirt, contaminated objects or bites, the CDC said.
Human-to-human transmission of the virus is possible, but highly uncommon, it said.
Infections can result in clinical illnesses, such as hantavirus hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, the CDC said.
Symptoms of hantavirus infection include sudden and persistent fever, inflammation of the eye, back and abdominal pain, headache, weakness, loss of appetite and nausea, it said.
Bleeding occurs on the third to sixth day after the initial infection, followed by protein in urine, reduced urine output and low blood pressure, which can lead to acute kidney disease or shock in some patients, it said.
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