Formosan ferret-badger (Melogale moschata subaurantiaca) rabies surveillance in Taiwan from year 2013-2024

Lai, Cheng-Hung and Hsu, Chia-Ning and Fei, Chang-Young (2025) Formosan ferret-badger (Melogale moschata subaurantiaca) rabies surveillance in Taiwan from year 2013-2024. Open Access Research Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 9 (2). 052-060. ISSN 2783-0268

This report details the surveillance of the rabies epizootic affecting Formosan Ferret-badgers (Melogale moschata subaurantiaca) on the main island of Taiwan between 2013 and 2024, and identifies the animal species involved. During this period, a total of 15,524 animal specimens were submitted to the national veterinary laboratory, of which 980 (6.31%) were confirmed positive for rabies. Among the reported rabid animals, 967 cases occurred in wild Formosan Ferret-badgers (FFBs). The remaining thirteen spillover incidents involved one juvenile dog bitten by a rabid FFB, one Asian house shrew (Suncus murinus), one Yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula), and ten Formosan gem-faced civets (Paguma larvata taivana). The temporal progression of the rabies epizootic in FFBs in Taiwan indicated that the island's FFB populations were initially rabies-naïve. Rabies was first introduced to western Taiwan around 2008 and subsequently spread throughout the region. The Central Mountain Range acted as a geographical barrier, delaying the immediate penetration of the epizootic into eastern Taiwan. Instead, the disease circumvented the southern part of the island, progressing through Pingtung and Taitung Counties before reaching the eastern side of the Central Mountain Range in 2013. Consequently, the progression of the epizootic in eastern Taiwan was delayed by five years compared to its westward spread. Currently, the FFB remains the sole reservoir species for this rabies variant in Taiwan.