The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a level-one travel health notice (practice usual precautions) for chikungunya fever and a level-two notice (practice enhanced precautions) for the Zika virus for people traveling to Myanmar.
Twenty-five chikungunya fever cases have been confirmed this year, including the first indigenous case ever reported in Taiwan.
Most of these cases were brought in from countries in Southeast Asia, and more than half were from Myanmar, the CDC said, adding that the genome sequence of the chikungunya virus strain found in the single indigenous case was similar to the cases from Myanmar.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
Other cases were from the Maldives, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and India.
The number of chikungunya fever cases confirmed this year is the highest since the same period in 2007, when it was listed as a notifiable disease, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
The CDC on Friday also confirmed the nation’s second Zika case this year, brought in by a Taiwanese man in his 40s who was infected in Myanmar.
The man visited Myanmar from July 15 to 26, returning home on July 27 and began experiencing headaches, muscle pain and fever.
He was diagnosed with Zika fever the next day, the centers said, adding that his family members and the people who traveled with him showed no signs of infection.
People who are traveling to Myanmar or other Southeast Asian countries where the Zika virus, chikungunya fever and dengue fever are spreading, should protect against mosquito bites by wearing long sleeves, using government-approved insect repellents and staying in places with screened windows and doors, Chuang said.
They should also see a doctor if they experience any of the diseases’ symptoms and be sure to mention their recent travel history to the doctor, he added.
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