The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine last week warned the public not to touch wild animals after the Veterinary Research Institute found type-2 Lyssavirus in a Chinese noctule bat that flew into a residence in Jhonghe District (中和) last month.
While Lyssavirus is not defined as an infectious disease in Taiwan, it is still dangerous as it is transmissible to humans, the bureau said.
There are 17 types of Lyssavirus, including rabies, the bureau said, adding that type-2 Lyssavirus is unrelated to rabies and similar to the Lyssavirus found in Chinese Noctule bats in 2018.
Photo courtesy of the Center Disease and Control
It had found type-1 Lyssavirus on four Japanese houseboats between 2016 and 2022, it said.
The bureau said that bats are natural Lyssavirus hosts. If people sees bats on the road, they should not touch them, but instead alert a local animal quarantine office or other bat conservation groups.
Bureau deputy director-general Hsu Jung-pin (徐榮彬) said Lyssavirus is transmitted neurally and the public should avoid situations that put them at risk of being bitten.
However, if they are bitten they should visit a hospital immediately and ask to be given a rabies vaccine, he added.
Centers of Disease and Control (CDC) spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said the individual who found the bat had not been bitten, and after an assessment, the CDC deemed them to not be at risk.
Tseng urged members of the public not to touch or capture wild animals, and if they are pet owners, to take their pets to a veterinarian for their annual rabies shot.
She said that if members of the public have been scratched or bitten by wild animals, they should clean the wound with soap and large amounts of fresh water for 15 minutes and sanitize the wound with hydrogen peroxide or 70 percent-proof alcohol.
After cleansing the wound, they should visit a hospital or a local health center to receive a rabies vaccine.
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