Suspected hantavirus case reported in Keelung

Taipei, May 19 (CNA) Officials in Keelung City on Tuesday reported a suspected hantavirus infection involving a man who was bitten by a rat while at work.

At a press conference, Keelung City Health Bureau Director Chang Hsien-cheng (張賢政) said the patient, a male in his 40s, had been bitten by a rat on April 7, and developed symptoms such as a fever and a loss of appetite on May 2.

After the man sought medical attention in the city where he lives, his case was reported as a suspected hantavirus infection on May 7-8, with preliminary test results coming back positive on Monday, Chang said.

Chang said the man had been helping clean in the basement of his workplace, in an area near an underground parking lot, when he was bit while trying to kill a rat he had seen.

The rat was later caught, and health officials visited the man's workplace -- reportedly a Keelung hospital -- on Monday to conduct a sanitation and hygiene inspection, Chang said.

Meanwhile, the New Taipei City government said the infected man, a Linkou resident, had fully recovered and was expected to be released from the hospital later on Tuesday.

Eleven people have been identified as contacts of the man, none of whom have shown symptoms so far, the city's health department said.

At the Keelung press briefing, Chang explained that hantavirus typically does not spread from person to person. The nearly month-long period between the patient's exposure and the onset of symptoms is also standard for the disease, he said.

The central government is expected to make the final determination on whether or not the case was hantavirus, and to provide further details on its epidemiological investigation.

Context

The suspected case comes at a time of heightened sensitivity about hantavirus, following a recent outbreak aboard the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius in which three people died and as many as a dozen were infected.

It also follows recent social media postings alleging an increase in rat sightings in Taipei, which has raised public concerns.

Taiwan typically reports a few hantavirus cases per year.

Excluding the suspected Keelung case, Taiwan has recorded 45 hantavirus infections nationwide since 2017, with two confirmed cases so far this year, in line with recent years.

Hantavirus is primarily transmitted to humans through contact with infected wild rodents. For most hantaviruses, person to person transmission does not occur.