Taipei Times
Date: May 26, 2019
By: Chen Chien-chih and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

A 66-year-old man in Taichung nearly died after drinking raw blood from deer and softshell turtles, Chen Hung-chih (陳虹志), a nephrologist at Asia University Hospital, said on Thursday.

The patient, surnamed Chu (朱), was showing signs of septic shock, as well as multiple organ failure, when he arrived at the hospital, Chen said.

Chu had no previous history of diabetes or other chronic conditions, and exhibited no noticeable signs of infection in the lungs or the skin, although he did have a mild case of bacilluria, Chen said, adding that Chu had also not traveled abroad in the past six months, so his condition was very odd.

During his first two days of hospitalization, Chu did not respond well to broad-spectrum antibiotics, Chen said, adding that after running a blood culture, they discovered that the septic shock was caused by antibiotic-resistant strains of Escherichia coli (E coli).
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