Mouse With Covid Bit Scientist At Lab. What Happened Next

The lab worker, a woman in her 20s, tested positive for Covid this week after coming into contact with the virus during her work at Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top research institute, in mid-November.

A mouse bite is at the center of an investigation into a possible new Covid-19 outbreak in Taiwan, after a worker at a high-security laboratory was confirmed as the island's first local case in more than a month.

The lab worker, a woman in her 20s, tested positive for Covid this week after coming into contact with the virus during her work at Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top research institute, in mid-November, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said at a quickly organized briefing Thursday evening. She had not traveled abroad recently and had received two doses of Moderna Inc.'s vaccine.

At the same briefing, another senior virus official confirmed local media reports that she had been bitten by a laboratory mouse infected with Covid, but said further investigation was need to determine whether the bite had been the source of the virus's transmission. Taiwanese authorities believe she is likely infected with the delta variant.

The lab leak threatens to undo Taiwan's hard-won success in stamping out Covid outbreaks, and underscores the difficulty of eliminating the pathogen, a goal some places -- including mainland China and Hong Kong -- are still aiming for.