The number of cases of indigenous dengue fever since August now exceeds 1,000, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, prompting officials to increase their preventative efforts.
The latest figures showed that of the 1,031 reported cases of indigenous dengue fever since August, more than half (589) originated in Kaohsiung, showing significant cluster infections in the area. Tainan came second (298), followed by Tainan County (90) and Kaohsiung County (32), the CDC said.
“New reported cases of indigenous dengue fever reached 128 last week alone, with most cases concentrated in Tainan and Kaohsiung — more specifically in Kaohsiung’s Sanmin (三民), Zuoying (左營) and Cianjhen (前鎮) districts,” centers Deputy Director-General Shih Wen-yi (施文儀) said.
To date, 12 cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever have been confirmed, including two in which the patient died, Shih said.
Dengue hemorrhagic fever affects individuals who contract two different strains of dengue in a relatively short period of time, and has a fatality rate of about 10 percent.
Shih said the high incidence of dengue cases had prompted local health bureaus to increase the frequency of spraying disinfectant and conducting checks on ditches and containers where water can collect and attract virus-carrying mosquitoes.
Last month, the CDC announced the creation of a central epidemic command center to deal with the outbreak. Although only a small number of isolated cases have been reported in the north in recent weeks, officials said they remained on the alert and would pay close attention to any signs the disease is moving northward.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
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More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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