Taiwan battling its worst summer outbreak of dengue on record: CDC
2015/09/03 15:26:17
Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) The number of dengue fever cases in Taiwan in the past four months has jumped to more than 4,000, recording the worst summer outbreak in the country since it started keeping systematic track of the disease in 2003, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Thursday.
As of Wednesday, the total number of dengue cases reported around the country since May 1 had reached 4,343, compared with 3,704 in the same period of last year, the CDC said.
"The situation might ease up after September if we could effectively get things under control," said CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥).
He said the cooler weather in autumn might slow down the breeding of mosquitoes that transmit the disease.
In Tainan, where the majority of dengue cases have been reported this year, and in the neighboring city of Kaohsiung, control of the disease has been a challenge because of high summer temperatures and persistent rain, Chuang said.
Last year, Kaohsiung was the dengue fever hotspot but since then, the city has achieved better community awareness of the disease, he said.
So far this year, there have been 445 cases in Kaohsiung, much fewer than the 3,825 case reported in Tainan, CDC data shows.
The incidence of dengue fever in Taiwan rose sharply last year to a record 15,942 cases, compared with a maximum 2,000 in previous years, according to CDC data.
Chuang said control of the disease this year to avoid the massive number of cases recorded in 2014 depends on the success of the prevention efforts this month.
(By Lee Hsin-Yin)
