The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) urged the public yesterday to be alert for a potential dengue fever outbreak, saying that the dengue fever risk index is expected to climb in the wake of heavy rains and flooding in the south brought by Tropical Storm Kalmaegi.
The CDC advised local health authorities and the public to take measures to prevent an outbreak, such as cleaning gutters, drainage channels and water containers.
Twelve indigenous cases of dengue fever have been reported this year, all of them in Kaohsiung City, said Shih Wen-yi (施文儀), deputy director-general at the CDC.
Several areas in Tainan and Kaohsiung counties have been inundated because of the storm.
Shih said a dengue fever epidemic would not spread immediately after the typhoon, as the mosquitoes that carry the disease need some time to lay eggs, and warned the public to remain alert even after the storm passes.
“It may take a month to determine if the typhoon has caused an epidemic,” he said.
He said that cases had occurred earlier than usual this year, as the first reporting came on July 8.
Shih said that local health authorities would undertake necessary measures after the flooding recedes, such as disinfecting and cleaning gutters and drainage ditches, mosquitoes’ favored breeding grounds, to prevent an outbreak.
According to an official from the Kaohsiung City Health Department, the risk index for dengue fever in most areas of the city has surpassed the alarm line, meaning that the region should be on high alert for the disease.
The risk index of dengue fever is measured on a scale of one to 10 that represents the level of mosquito density and the threat of disease.
The last major outbreak of dengue fever in southern Taiwan was in 2002, when 21 people died, the CDC said.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS