The Kaohsiung City Government has stepped up efforts to contain the spread of dengue fever after 28 new cases were reported in parts of the city last week, a local health official said on Monday.
“Twenty-eight indigenous dengue fever cases were reported in the city last week alone, bringing the total to 186 so far this year,” said Ho Chi-kung (何啟�?director of the city’s Department of Health.
With an annual national sports event being held in the city and a warm-up activity for the 2009 World Games opening yesterday, Ho said the city government’s dengue fever team had increased its monitoring and stepped up preventive operations, including epidemiological surveys, environmental cleanups and emergency disinfections.
Ho said the dengue fever situation this year was far more complicated than before.
In the past, outbreaks in the city were usually caused by a single strain of the virus, whereas this year, he said, two variants of the virus originating from four countries — Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia — were detected.
Making epidemic control even more challenging is the fact that the four strains penetrated different districts of the city, Ho said.
Dengue fever cases in Nanzih District (楠梓) were mainly caused by a Type 1 virus originating in Thailand, Ho said, with 14 boroughs affected.
Aside from Jenchang Borough (仁昌), which was still being closely monitored, the epidemic had been brought under control in all other boroughs, with no new cases reported for more than six weeks.
A case reported in Huafeng Borough (華豐), Kushan District (鼓山), was caused by a Type II strain originating in the Philippines, Ho said, adding that no new case of this strain had been reported for more than four weeks.
Meanwhile, the Type II Cambodian strain has mainly affected Chienchen District (前鎮) and Kaohsiung County’s Fengshan City (鳳山). The cases in Lingya District (苓雅), meanwhile, were mainly caused by the Type I Vietnamese strain, Ho said.
Ho said the Cambodian and Vietnamese strains had likely spread to neighboring areas in Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County in August, adding that although the outbreak was contained, the virus had spread to Chienchen and Lingya districts, causing the infection to peak last week.
With intensive preventive efforts, Ho said the epidemic would gradually subside in the coming week or two.
The potentially deadly dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease, which is manifested by a sudden onset of severe headaches, muscle and joint pains, fever and rashes.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
RSS