A case of indigenous dengue fever and a case of imported Chikungunya fever were confirmed in Kaohsiung on Friday, the Centers for Disease Control said.
The dengue fever case involves a 77-year-old woman from Gushan District (鼓山), who started having signs of insomnia, diarrhea and fever on Tuesday.
She went to see a doctor on Thursday and was diagnosed with dengue fever on Friday.
The last confirmed case of dengue fever in Kaohsiung was reported on March 5, the centers said.
A case of Chikungunya fever was also reported in the same district on Friday.
A 37-year-old man, who traveled to Brazil on April 12 and returned home on Tuesday, was diagnosed with the disease after he began suffering from fever, as well as joint and muscle pain, on the following day.
The centers said as of Friday, four imported Chikungunya fever cases had been reported this year, with the latest case marking the 84th confirmed case since the disease was designated as a communicable disease in 2007.
All confirmed cases have been imported to Taiwan, mainly from Southeast Asian nations, the centers said.
Since the first indigenous case of Chikungunya fever in the Americas was reported in December 2013, the disease has spread rapidly across the region, especially in the Caribbean, with more than 1.9 million cases reported, the centers said.
The Kaohsiung Health Bureau said that it has disinfected the residences of the two patients, adding that as both dengue and Chikungunya fevers are spread by mosquitoes, the public should remove standing water from pots and containers to keep mosquito larvae at bay, especially in light of the rising temperatures and intermittent rain in southern Taiwan.
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