Taiwan Quick Take: Dengue fever caution urged

Environmental officials this week reminded the public to take precautions against possible outbreaks of dengue fever, a sometimes fatal mosquito-borne disease, with the onset of the nation's hot and wet summer -- the breeding season of the dengue virus-carrying mosquitoes. The Environmental Protection Administration said that eliminating the breeding areas of the mosquito is the only way to prevent the disease. According to official statistics, 24 cases of dengue fever contracted overseas have been recorded since the beginning of this year, with three reported last week. Warm, rainy weather creates a perfect environment for the mosquito to reproduce, the administration said, as long as the temperature is at least 30 degrees Celsius and the larvae's living environment -- stagnant water -- is not disturbed.