The second and third indigenous cases of dengue fever in Tainan this year have been confirmed, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the two cases are believed to be linked to the same traditional food market in the city’s Northwest District (中西).
Before Tainan’s first indigenous case of dengue fever was reported on Saturday in Yongkang District (永康), all of this year’s cases had been reported in Kaohsiung.
The patients in the second and third cases were women in their 70s living in Northwest District’s Kaishan Borough (開山里), CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
Neither woman had visited Kaohsiung or Yongkang District, or traveled overseas, but both had visited the East Market (東菜市場) and a local temple, Chuang said.
The women were confirmed to be infected with dengue virus type 2 (DENV-2), the same as the first case in Tainan, Chuang said, adding that the women’s homes were only 200m away from where the first infected person worked.
The CDC said it believes that the three cases belong to the same cluster.
The CDC and the local health bureau have disinfected the women’s homes and where they visited, and surveyed the surrounding areas.
The Tainan City Government ordered the East Market to shut down on Thursday and Friday for aerial spraying and cleanup operations.
As of yesterday, 31 indigenous dengue cases — 28 in Kaohsiung and three in Tainan — and 186 imported cases have been confirmed this year, the centers said.
One new case of Japanese encephalitis was reported last week: a woman in her 30s, who lives in Changhua County’s Pusin Township (埔心), the centers added.
The woman had not recently traveled abroad, but lived near pigeon coops, pig farms and rice patties, which are high-risk areas for mosquito bites, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.
After having a fever, chills and a headache, she became unconscious and was hospitalized on June 14, he said, adding that she was diagnosed with Japanese encephalitis on Tuesday last week.
Eleven cases of Japanese encephalitis have been confirmed this year, including one death, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said.
June and July are the peak season for Japanese encephalitis, but July and August are the peak season for dengue fever, so people should take precautions against mosquito bites and eliminate breeding grounds, the centers said.
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