Taiwan confirms three new rabies cases in ferret-badgers
CNA 2013-08-02 11:28
A dead ferret-badger. (Photo/CNA)
Three more wild Formosan ferret-badgers have tested positive for rabies, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in Taiwan to 22, the country's Council of Agriculture said Thursday.
The newly confirmed cases come separately from Taitung county's Donghe and Chenggong townships and from Kaohsiung's Yanchao district, according to a Wednesday report by the council's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine.
A total of 65 wild carnivores have been tested for rabies since the first reports of the outbreak on July 17, with 21 Formosan ferret-badgers and one Asian house shrew confirmed infected, the bureau said.
The infected shrew was caught in a home last week in the eastern county of Taitung. The 21 ferret-badgers come from six cities and counties in central and southern Taiwan.
Nantou county was the site of 10 confirmed infections, while five originated in Taitung county, three in Kaohsiung city, and one each in the cities of Taichung and Tainan and in Yunlin county.
The bureau said it has already provided 2,000 extra doses of rabies vaccine for use in animals to Taitung as of Wednesday. and plans to send another 2,000 doses to mountainous areas of Kaohsiung.
Around 1.13 million doses of animal vaccine should be ready by the end of August, said Chao Ching-hua, deputy director-general of the bureau, adding that the number will be enough for use across the country.
Meanwhile, a dog that was attacked by a ferret-badger in Tainan Wednesday night was quarantined Thursday and is being monitored, the Tainan City Animal Health Inspection and Protection Office said.
