A cluster of three cases of indigenous chikungunya fever has been confirmed in New Taipei City, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Sunday.
Two of the patients, a woman in her 80s and a man in his 60s, live in a borough in the city’s Jhonghe District (中和), where there was an active chikungunya cluster, the centers said in a statement.
The third patient, a woman in her 50s, is from Sinjhuang District (新莊), but said that she had recently gone hiking twice in Jhonghe, the centers added.
The three patients sought medical attention after developing a high fever, a headache and joint pain from Aug. 20 to Tuesday last week, they said.
On Sept. 12, the hospitals that treated the people reported that they suspected cases of dengue fever, chikungunya fever or zika fever, but it was later confirmed that the three had contracted chikungunya fever, the centers said.
The three had not traveled abroad, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said, adding that the two from Jhonghe live near a chikungunya cluster.
The trail that the third person hiked along is also near the cluster, which is believed to have been the source of the cases in Jhonghe — a total of 10 now, Lo said.
The woman in Sinjhuang got her first symptoms on Aug. 20, but it took several visits over three weeks before the doctor diagnosed her with chikungunya fever, Lo said, adding that the fever can be misdiagnosed as an age-related muscle or joint disease, and can be confused with dengue fever.
Like dengue fever, chikungunya fever is spread by the Aedes mosquito and has an incubation period of two to 12 days.
The Aedes aegypti is more likely to spread dengue fever, while the Aedes albopictus usually carries the chikungunya virus.
However, both types of mosquito can spread each disease.
Like dengue fever, the symptoms of chikungunya fever include an abrupt onset of fever, headaches, joint and muscle pain, nausea and fatigue.
Although dengue fever has been more common over the past few years and is more dangerous than chikungunya fever, the joint pain associated with chikungunya fever can last for years.
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