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Volunteers infected with dengue fever on trip to Myanmar

Ten members of a Taiwanese religious group have been infected with dengue fever while taking part in relief efforts in Myanmar in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.

It is the first time that a mass imported dengue fever infection has been recorded in Taiwan in recent years, a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) official said on Tuesday.

The cases were discovered after one of the patients, a 48-year-old Taipei County woman, sought treatment earlier this month at the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital.

She was diagnosed on July 18 with dengue fever, according to CDC deputy director-general Shih Wen-yi (施文儀) said.

A subsequent investigation conducted by health authorities found that she and 10 other members of a religious group she belongs to had visited Myanmar to help after the disaster and that 10 of the 11-member mission had been infected with the disease in Myanmar and had already fallen ill while in the Southeast Asian country, Shih said.

The patients are aged between 48 and 87 and come from Taipei County, Taipei City, Taoyuan County and Changhua County, Shih said.

The CDC official said the center is still awaiting the results of a third test on a remaining member of the mission, who tested negative for dengue fever in two previous tests.

As the religious group is planning to send another mission to Myanmar in September, the CDC has advised it to improve health education for its members and to take precautionary measures against volunteers contracting the disease, he said.
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