A 60-year-old woman living in Guanyin district of Taoyuan, northwestern Taiwan, was diagnosed with Japanese encephalitis on Tuesday after falling ill for four days with symptoms including drowsiness and frequent urination.
It was the second case of the disease reported recently in Taoyuan municipality. The first case, in Taoyuan district, was noted on June 20, when a 71-year-old woman was diagnosed a week after returning from a trip to southern Taiwan. The disease, which is potentially very serious, is spread by mosquitoes.
The Guanyin woman was reportedly in stable condition, but she had to stay in hospital for treatments and observations, the Liberty Times reported.
The Taiwan Department of Health said the two cases were listed as individual diagnoses, given that Taoyuan and Guanyin districts are far from each other with no overlapping zones, and the two patients were unrelated.
According to China Daily News, the second woman was likely to have been infected in her own neighborhood, which was regarded as a high-risk area with paddy rice fields, open irrigation networks, and pigeon and pig farms.
On Wednesday, the Taoyuan municipal department of health installed some mosquito electrocution traps, and advised citizens to be vaccinated agains Japanese encephalitis, which has no cure.