The number of dengue fever cases reported in the past four months has jumped to more than 4,000, marking the worst summer outbreak in the nation since the government started keeping systematic track of the disease in 2003, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
As of Wednesday, the total number of dengue cases reported since May 1 had reached 4,343, compared with 3,704 in the same period last year, the CDC said.
“The situation might ease up after this month if we can effectively get things under control,” CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
Photo: CNA
Chuang said 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 Kaohsiung, control of the disease has been a challenge because of high temperatures and persistent rain, Chuang said.
Last year, Kaohsiung was a dengue fever hotspot, but the city now has a better awareness of the disease, he said.
So far this year, there have been 445 dengue cases in Kaohsiung, compared with the 3,825 cases reported in Tainan, CDC data showed.
The incidence of dengue fever in Taiwan rose sharply last year to a record 15,942 cases, compared with a maximum of 2,000 in previous years, according to CDC data.
Chuang said that, to avoid as many dengue cases this year as last year, control of the disease depends on the success of prevention efforts this month.
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