The number of dengue fever cases recorded since the start of summer in the nation has increased to 7,453, with 98.7 percent in the southern municipalities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
As of Wednesday, 6,576 cases had been reported in Tainan, a record increase of 507 cases from the previous day, the CDC said.
With a rate of roughly 500 new cases per day, the number of cases in Tainan could break 7,000 soon, the health agency said.
However, the CDC sought to allay public concern over the outbreak, reiterating its statement on Sunday that it expects a turnaround before the end of the month thanks to cooler weather.
The recent spike in the number of cases was not surprising, it said. Those patients very likely contracted the disease late last month, when persistent rain worsened the outbreak, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said, adding that the incubation period for the mosquito-borne disease is about eight days or more.
As the nation has experienced largely sunny and cooler weather recently, the outbreak could turn around at the end of this month, he said.
Kaohsiung has reported 755 cases, accounting for 10 percent of the national total.
Other cities and counties have had far fewer cases, with Pingtung reporting 26, Taichung and Taoyuan 17, New Taipei City 15, Hsinchu and Chiayi counties eight, Taipei seven, Hsinchu City six, and Changhua County and Chiayi City three each.
Keelung, Nantou and the outlying counties of Kinmen and Penghu have each reported two cases, while Yilan, Hualien, Miaoli and Yunlin have had one case.
No cases have been reported in Taitung County or the outlying Lienchiang County.
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