The number of this year's dengue fever cases can be kept down to approximately 1,500 to 2,000, according to the head of the Department of Health yesterday.
At a press conference yesterday, Lee Ming-liang (李明亮) said that although this year's outbreak of dengue fever has been the most serious in 14 years, the number of cases would not exceed 2,000.
"We estimate that this year's dengue fever cases can be controlled to a number between 1,500 to 2,000 because the outbreak in Kaohsiung City has been brought under control and cleaning efforts have been launched by health bureaus in epidemic areas," Lee said.
"I believe that the [positive] results of our effort [in controlling the disease] this week will be seen in the following week," he said, explaining that it would take at least a week to see the results of the cleaning effort since the incubation period for dengue fever is between three and 14 days.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), this year's outbreak, which has been concentrated in Kaohsiung City and County, is the most serious in 14 years.
As of yesterday afternoon, the CDC had confirmed 1,024 cases of dengue fever. There are 500 in Kaohsiung City, 499 in Kaohsiung County, 12 in Pingtung County, two in Taipei City and Hualien County; and one each in Tainan County, Tainan City, Chiayi County, Taichung City, Taichung County, Taoyuan County, Hsinchu County, Taipei County and Penghu County.
Of the reported cases, seven in Kaohsiung City and eight in Kaohisung County have been confirmed as dengue hemorrhagic fever, the most severe form of the disease.
In addition, the CDC also said that, except for two isolated cases -- one in Taipei City and one in Taipei County -- all the remaining 1,022 cases have been confirmed to have been contracted by people traveling in the Kaohsiung area.
Although the number of reported dengue fever cases in the Kaohsiung area has gradually fallen to under 10 every day, the number in Kaohsiung County is still on the rise, according to the CDC.
Lee urged local health bureaus to strictly enforce penalties when carrying out inspections on people's households and public areas for possible mosquito breeding grounds, saying that it is not enough to rely on local health bureaus to spread disinfectants to control the disease.
"Dengue fever is an epidemic and a matter concerning public health. Failing to clean out mosquito breeding grounds endangers public safety," Lee said.
According to the Epidemic Prevention Law, anyone failing to clean up their household to eliminate possible mosquito-breeding areas could face fines up to NT$150,000. People who refuse to cooperate with local health bureaus or hinder public clean-up efforts could be fined up to NT$300,000
Dengue fever, a viral infection common in tropical and subtropical regions, is spread by bites from the Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquito.
Aside from continuing with its disinfectant spraying program, the Kaohsiung County Government, noting schools are about to start the fall session near the end of this month, also asked all schools yesterday to carry out an all-out, campus clean-up.
The county government also asked schools to demonstrate to students how to destroy mosquito breeding areas, so that students can do the same while at home.
In addition, Taipei City's Bureau of Environmental Protection yesterday dispatched roughly 200 inspectors around town to carry out inspections to ensure that mosquito breeding areas have been cleaned out.
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