TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A woman in Kaohsiung City has contracted hantavirus, becoming the fifth case in the city and the seventh case in the country this year, setting a new high since records began in 2001.

The woman, in her 50s, is a restaurant worker in the southern port city. She was bitten by a rat on April 19 at her workplace and later exhibited symptoms of the disease, including fever, headache, muscle pain, chill, and excessive fatigue.

Unfortunately, the screening did not take place until the end of May after her doctor reported it as a suspected case of the rare virus spread by rodents.

According to government data, there have been two new cases in the past 30 days — one in May and one in June — bringing the country's total to seven. There were five cases in Kaohsiung, one in New Taipei City, and one in Keelung City.

Of the 30 total confirmed hantavirus cases in Taiwan since 2001, two were imported; more than one-third, or 13, were recorded in Kaohsiung; followed by eight in New Taipei City.

Health authorities in Kaohsiung have placed traps to catch mice around the patient's neighborhood and workplace. Residents have been advised to sterilize areas likely contaminated by rodents with diluted bleach.

Hantavirus is contracted through contact with urine, saliva, droppings, or bites of infected rodents and often begins as a flu-like illness. Symptoms appear within one to five weeks after exposure, according to CCOHS.

In the early stage, a patient may experience fever, chills, muscle aches, headaches, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, and gastrointestinal problems. It progresses rapidly and is deadly, with some experiencing abnormal drops in blood pressure or other cardiopulmonary disorders and conditions.