A total of 530 cases of dengue fever had been confirmed by last night and the Center for Disease Control (CDC,
This includes drying out stagnant pools of water in neighborhoods to deny breeding room to the mosquitos that spread the disease.
"The government has done what it can to help dry out the stagnant pools, the rest of the clearing should be done by all residents," said Liu Ming-hsun (劉明勳), spokes-person of the CDC.
Dengue fever has hit the Kaohsiung area hard this year, with 333 cases in Kaohsiung City and 194 in Kaohsiung County.
One case was also reported in Taichung City, as well as one in Taipei County and another in Pingtung City.
The CDC said that 10 of the 530 cases had been confirmed as dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) -- the more severe form of the disease which can be fatal if not treated quickly and properly.
According to the CDC's records, the number of confirmed dengue fever cases this year had yesterday already exceeded the number reported each year for the past 14 years. Last year, there were 225 confirmed dengue fever cases around the nation.
"Although the number of cases that are reported every day has stopped increasing, we still receive about 20 suspected cases every day," said Lin Wen-fei (林文斐), deputy chief of the division of quarantine and intervention activities at the CDC.
Tomorrow and on Aug. 7, health bureaus in the Kaohsiung area will launch two cleaning efforts with the assistance of the military.
"I believe that we will soon see the results of the government's efforts to control the disease," Lin said. "We are not seeing immediate effects because the disease has a long incubation period."
Lin said that those who are currently suffering from dengue fever symptoms had been infected a couple of weeks ago.
In a bid to eliminate mosquito eggs and larvae, local health bureaus in Kaohsiung have for the past few weeks sprayed disinfectant around the city and have assisted residents in removing containers or other items that can retain water or collect rainwater.
Dengue fever is transmitted to humans by the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which feeds during the day.
The incubation period for dengue fever is three to 14 days and there is no vaccine against the disease.
Symptoms of dengue fever include high fever, severe headache, back ache, joint pain, nausea and rash.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique