A dengue fever cluster was reported in Kaohsiung on Thursday after three cases of the disease at the same locality were confirmed by local health authorities.
The three cases were found at the Nanzih Veterans’ Home, where one 84-year-old resident and two staff members, one of whom was living in the home and the other in Gangshan District (岡山), were diagnosed with the disease. All three cases are considered indigenous, health officials said.
The three developed symptoms of the disease between May 27 and Friday last week.
Since all of them were either working or living at the veterans’ home, health officials conducted a hygiene check of the home from Thursday to Saturday last week, and found nearly 100 adult mosquitoes that were carriers of the dengue virus, the city’s Department of Health said.
Health officials sprayed insecticide at the home on Saturday to eliminate mosquitoes and were set to spray a second time yesterday.
The officials said they also found a nearby community managed by the Veterans’ Affairs Commission that has 10 dilapidated and empty houses, which are so filthy that they have become an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. The Department of Health asked the commission to clear the community immediately to deny mosquitoes any breeding ground.
The three new cases brought the number of indigenous dengue fever cases in Kaohsiung this year to 120, the department said.
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease. Symptoms include fever, headache and muscle and joint pain. In some cases it can develop into life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever.
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