Taiwan health officials today established a Enterovirus Response Team in case of a large scale outbreak of enterovirus 71 (EV 71), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported.
This happened on the same day they reported a newly confirmed EV 71 case in a three-year-old girl. The child presented with fever in late Feb. and subsequently, she developed angina and rashes on the limbs.
On March 1, she was hospitalized for treatment. Her throat swab specimens confirmed infection with EV 71. On March 6, she was discharged from the hospital. On the same day, her two-year-old sister subsequently developed symptoms. As of now the sister has recovered after receiving treatment.
The CDC says in view of the fact that no large-scale EV 71 outbreaks have occurred since 2012 and most children aged below 3 in Taiwan have not contracted the virus, the risk of a large-scale EV 71 outbreak is increased.
Thus far this year, a total of 4 mild cases of EV 71 infection have been confirmed, including 3 cases in January and 1 case in February. Last year, 6 severe cases of enterovirus infection were confirmed, including 3 caused by CB 5 virus, 2 caused by CA 16 virus, and 1 caused by echovirus 3. Among the severe cases, two died.
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