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Dengue fever ‘red alert’ declared in Taipei City

“The city will not lift the alert until September.” — Allen Chiu, commissioner of Taipei City Health Department

The Taipei City Government urged residents yesterday to cooperate with its disinfection measures against dengue fever after declaring an epidemic “red alert.”

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) called on residents to clean up their surroundings and report any cases to the City’s Health Department after the confirmation of three recent indigenous cases in Shezidao (社子島) of Shilin District (士林) last week in addition to eight patients testing positive over the weekend.

Seeking to control the spread of the disease, the department set up a blood testing station in Shezidao, testing 230 residents in the area on Saturday and Sunday.

Eight people tested positive for the disease, commissioner of the department Allen Chiu (邱文祥) said.

Positive tests are counted as confirmed cases, the Centers for Disease Control said.

“The result of the test shows that dengue fever is still threatening the district. The city will not lift the alert until September,” Chiu said after a municipal meeting at Taipei City Hall.

To reduce the number of mosquitoes in the district, the city government has dispatched staff to spray insecticide indoors and outdoors in areas within 200m of buildings with confirmed dengue fever cases, while conducting additional outdoor spraying in 10 boroughs near infected areas, Chiu said.

Chiu said that a total of 13 households refused to allow department staff to spray insecticide in their houses, but the department later gave them spray and instructions.

The department will check the households and give them fines ranging from NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 if they fail to follow the department’s instructions, he said.

The city government is still inspecting patients who reportedly had fevers in municipal hospitals from July 18 to Aug. 20. It is also planning sterilizations in other areas.

Dengue fever is transmitted to humans by infected Aedes albo pictus mosquito larvae, which mainly breed in containers holding stagnant water.

Chiu also reminded those who develop early symptoms of dengue fever — such as a fever, joint pain or a skin rash — to immediately seek medical treatment.
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