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Dengue yet to be contained: CDC

This year's dengue season has yet to be contained despite the fact that the number of new cases reported each week is decreasing, a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) official said yesterday.

"Whereas the cases we've had from earlier in the season were localized, now we are seeing reports of dengue from a wider area," said CDC deputy chief Lin Ting (林頂), speaking at a press conference held by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators.

"This means that even though the number of new cases have gone down, the difficulty of containment has gone up," he said.

According to CDC figures this year's dengue season has hit Tainan City the hardest, with 345 confirmed cases of dengue. Tainan County has seen 35 cases and Kaohsiung has confirmed 61.

At yesterday's news conference, KMT legislators questioned whether the CDC is doing enough to quell the potential crisis.

KMT Legislator Kao Su-po (高思博) from Tainan criticized the CDC for not taking command of the situation from city and county officials, who have asked for a dengue fever command center to be established to deal with this year's season, Kao said.

"Is the CDC afraid of taking over a potentially difficult situation?" asked Kao.

Lin replied that the situation is not yet serious enough to warrant the establishment of a command center.

"The new Tainan City Health Bureau Chief, Hu Shu-chen (胡淑貞) just started on the job," said Lin. "We're giving her team some time to deal with the situation."

When asked by reporters whether or not Tainan City health officials asked for CDC to take over the dengue prevention from them, Lin replied, "there has been dialog around that issue.

"We do not discount the possibility of establishing a command center down south if the situation becomes even more serious," Lin said.

Currently the center is working on supporting regional government efforts to control dengue.

Lin said: "We have allocated almost NT$18 million this season alone to help city and county officials prevent and fight dengue and mobilized more than 1,400 dengue-prevention workers."

Lin called upon citizens to clean up potential mosquito breeding grounds in and around their homes.

When asked by reporters whether or not those enjoying moonlight barbecues on the day of the Moon Festival in areas affected by Dengue might be putting themselves at-risk, Lin advised the pubic to go ahead -- after putting on some mosquito repellant.
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