Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced one new local case of hantavirus on Tuesday, May 19. This brings the total number of cases to three this year, with all belonging to the Seoul virus (SEOV) strain, which is not transmissible from person to person and is carried by rodents.

The Taiwanese public has become concerned about the hantavirus, which can cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and is characterized by high mortality, after an outbreak on an international cruise ship in early May. The CDC Spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said that all cases diagnosed in Taiwan belong to the Seoul virus strain, rather than the Andes virus (ANDV) found on the cruise ship which can spread from person to person.

The most recent patient is a man in his 40s working in Keelung with no history of international travel, who was bitten by a rat in early April. He began experiencing symptoms on May 2 and was later hospitalized. Taiwan has recorded a total of 46 hantavirus cases since 2017, all belonging to the Seoul virus strain.