Women with enterovirus should not breastfeed babies: CDC

Taipei, June 20 (CNA) Women suspected of having enterovirus should not breastfeed babies under 3 months of age to keep the virus from spreading, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said in a statement Friday.

Citing conclusions reached during two expert meetings held Wednesday and Thursday, the CDC made its recommendation for mothers showing enterovirus-related symptoms -- such as fever, respiratory issues, or diarrhea.

Breastfeeding can resume once the mother recovers, the agency said.

Current CDC guidelines do not warn against virus transmission via breast milk from infected mothers, but the CDC said it plans to update its guidelines for caring for newborns -- defined as babies under 1 month old -- to better protect them from enterovirus infections.

At present, the CDC's guidelines simply suggest that mothers who may have enterovirus should avoid direct contact with their babies and recommend that breast milk be fed to infants in bottles by healthy family members.

As of Friday, Taiwan had reported seven severe enterovirus cases in 2025, including five deaths. Among them were five cases and four deaths involving newborn infants, the CDC said.

All severe cases involving newborns were caused by Echovirus 11 (E-11), marking the first such diagnoses in Taiwan since 2018.

The CDC noted, however, that the genetic sequence of this year's E-11 cases differed from those seen in 2018.

The current strains are genetically similar to those found in Europe in 2022-2023 and in Japan in 2024, suggesting the ongoing outbreak may have originated from these regions.

Infections caused by E-11 tend to progress rapidly, initially attacking the liver, heart and kidneys before reaching the brain.

This can lead to septic shock within a single day, said Yang San-nan (楊生湳), president of the Taiwan Society of Neonatology, on Wednesday.