Ferret bites lead to weasel being wronged, but fortunately there is no rabies virus
Latest update:
This afternoon in Miaoli, a case of a weasel biting a person was reported, and there was briefly fear that it might carry the rabies virus, causing panic. However, the Miaoli County Health Bureau confirmed that the animal that bit the person was not a "weasel" but a pet "Japanese marten." Those bitten were a member of the public who had picked up the "Japanese marten" and a firefighter who went to handle the situation; currently neither of them has a fever. As for this Japanese marten that was mistaken for a "weasel," it was euthanized this morning and sent to the Council of Agriculture's Animal Health Research Institute for testing.
After a weasel biting incident occurred in Miaoli County, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, after looking into the matter, stated that a man in Miaoli County was bitten by a ferret on July 19, not by a weasel. The man notified the fire department to capture it; although the ferret was captured, one firefighter was bitten and another had a glove torn through but was fortunately uninjured. Health authorities have already administered vaccines to the bitten man, the firefighter and members of the public.
Regarding the handling of the ferret, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine stated that the Miaoli County Animal Disease Control Center was notified last night (the 24th) and immediately delivered the ferret sample to the Council of Agriculture's Animal Health Research Institute this afternoon (the 25th) for testing; the test result was negative. The bureau released 1,500 doses of animal vaccine today and asked the Miaoli County Animal Disease Control Center to strengthen disease prevention measures.
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Earlier report:
After reports of a wild ferret badger carrying the rabies virus biting a person, there was another report of a weasel biting a person. The Council of Agriculture's Animal Health Research Institute today received as its most urgent specimen a weasel that died after biting a person. Tsai Hsiang-jung, director of the Animal Health Research Institute, said that this case of a weasel biting a person is not very straightforward, and testing for whether it carries the rabies virus has been sped up.
Because dead ferret badgers carrying the rabies virus have been found successively in Yuchi and Lugu in Nantou and Gukeng in Yunlin in the central mountain areas, as well as Donghe in Taitung in the eastern mountain areas, the Council of Agriculture has designated all of Taiwan's mountain townships and nearby areas as high-risk areas for animal rabies. In addition to urgently arranging animal rabies vaccines for injection into dogs, it has also asked the public to report to disease prevention authorities any ferret badger or wild animal found collapsed on the road or behaving unusually.
In the latest development this morning, it was reported that a member of the public had been bitten by a weasel and reported it to local disease prevention units for assistance; the weasel specimen has now been urgently sent to the Animal Health Research Institute. Tsai Hsiang-jung, director of the Animal Health Research Institute, said this is an extremely urgent case, and to clarify whether the specimen shows a positive reaction, testing will be completed within one day at the fastest speed.
The weasel is a carnivore. If the test result confirms rabies, it will be the first case of rabies detected in a carnivore other than the ferret badger, and it will also confirm scholars' concern that rabies has long since spread and will enter a major outbreak period in the future.