DOH traces source of first endemic case of malaria

The nephew was infected with the disease while working as a logger in the Solomon Islands, the DOH confirmed.

The uncle, a 57-year-old aborigine living in Taimali, Taitung County, developed a high fever and began shivering in early September, and doctors alerted the Center for Disease Control Sept. 4 after finding parasites that cause malaria in his blood.

Both the patient and his nephew are in quarantine receiving medical treatment, CDC officials said.

The officials called for calm, saying that the affected area is small and remote from Taimali’s tourist attractions of hot springs.

The officials began spraying pesticide in large areas around the houses of the patients, saying that the most important task is to kill mosquitoes and avoid being bitten.

Mosquitoes collected from the area have been examined, but none of them carried the malaria-causing parasites, CDC officials said.

Taitung’s health bureau also stated screening fever patients for possible malaria carriers.

Because the incubation period for the disease ranges from 11 to 28 days, CDC officials are investigating the places the infected man visited over the past month.

The aboriginal patient has never been overseas, prompting the CDC officials to begin an immediate investigation into the indigenous source of the disease, which was completely wiped out from Taiwan 38 years ago.

The officials said that the man, who is fond of sleeping outdoors, and his nephew live close to each other.

The nephew, also an aborigine, went to the Solomon Islands to work as logger where he contacted the disease. He was feeling unwell in August after returning to Taiwan in June.

Shih Wen-yi, the CDC’s deputy director, said that if a person suffering from malaria is not completely healed, the parasites in his system could remain in the body and could be a source of further infection should another mosquito bite the person.

Shih said patients must take prescribed medicines and the illness could be brought under control in three to five days, adding that blood samples of patients must be taken every day and every month after completing the medication process.

There are around a dozen imported malaria cases in Taiwan each year, Shih said.

He aid Taiwan aboriginal people who are hired to work in Southeast Asian nations have become a new high-risk group, adding that of the 18 imported cases reported so far this year, four were infected with malaria while working as loggers outside Taiwan.

DOH officials urged the public to get medicines from the CDC before going to malaria-infected areas. The public should take preventative medicine and avoid being bitten by mosquitoes in those areas.

The officials said if a person develops the symptoms of shivering, headaches, sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and coughing after returning from malaria infected areas, he or she should seek medical assistance at once, and tell the doctor what countries he has visited.

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