Typhoon Doksuri might cause Tainan’s dengue fever outbreak to worsen in the coming days, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said on Wednesday, as the total number of confirmed cases rose to 587.
Rainfall from the typhoon would complicate the municipality’s efforts to stop the spread of dengue fever by flooding the basements of old housing projects, unoccupied structures, vacant lots and construction zones, he told a meeting at the city’s epidemic command center.
“The city’s challenges will begin only after the storm,” the Tainan Public Health Bureau quoted the mayor as saying in a statement.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Taipei Times
The typhoon would likely drive mosquitoes into residential buildings, thereby heightening infection risks throughout the city, Huang said, urging health officials to be vigilant.
Huang instructed municipal personnel to be thorough in the post-storm cleanup, citing data indicating that mosquito activity is likely to surge in the week following heavy rain.
Extreme climate events this year have significantly increased dengue fever risks, while changes in urban demographics have encouraged the disease’s range of propagation, said Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權), a professor at National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health.
Countering this effect would require the city to adapt its disease control strategy on a district-by-district basis, he said.
Tainan on Wednesday reported 30 new domestic dengue fever cases, including 15 in Yongkang District (永康), five in East District (東區), four in Rende District (仁德) and two in South District (南區).
They also included one reported case each in North District (北區), Annan District (安南), Gueiren District (歸仁) and Guanmiao District (關廟), the bureau said, adding that cases have been reported in 12 of the city’s 37 districts.
The infected ranged from age four to 81, with 25 cases being reported by hospitals or clinics and five more discovered after officials conducted contact tracing, the bureau said.
The bureau on Tuesday inspected 248 households and discovered six vessels containing mosquitoes in three of the homes, it said.
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