Community-based efforts are needed to keep the environment clean in the fight against dengue fever in the southern part of the country, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.
Environment Minister Chang Juu-en (
PHOTO: CNA
Chang said that community-based programs staffed by volunteers and part-time workers have been carrying out to fight against the epidemic.
"Residents are the best guardians of the environment. The government will offer incentives for local people to diligently clean out possible breeding sites for mosquitoes, which are responsible for spreading the disease," Chang said.
According to Chang, the EPA has allocated NT$4 million to the local government to hire part-time workers to clean up the environment. So far, 97.8 percent of vacant lots managed by the Pingtung County Government have been cleaned.
Dengue is spread by Aedes mosquitoes biting an infected person and then biting someone else. EPA officials stressed yesterday that the most effective way to combat the outbreak of dengue fever is by eliminating the breeding sites of mosquitoes -- primarily pools of stagnant water.
Taiwan's worst outbreak of dengue fever occurred in 1988, when 4,389 cases were reported. In 2002, more than 1,000 residents were affected by the disease. Most cases were reported in Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties. This year, health officials said that situation was under control.
The Center for Disease Control said yesterday that nationwide, there have been 206 reported dengue fever cases, including four cases of the more deadly hemorrhagic dengue fever in Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties. The first such case was reported from Kaohsiung City early this month. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is contracted by people who have been previously infected with one or more forms of dengue virus.
Health officials said that residents of southern Taiwan need to be alert to dengue fever because the average temperature in the south remains high at around 30?C. Officials predict that the threat will subside in December, when average temperatures in the south drop below 18?C.
Dengue viruses occur in most tropical climates throughout the world. Dengue is common in Africa, Asia, the Southern Pacific, Australia, and the Americas. However, record high death tolls have been reported in Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore this year.
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