On August 13, 2013, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) announced three new imported cases of chikungunya fever were confirmed last week (August 6 and 12). Two were detected by the fever screening system at the airport and they were respectively imported from Indonesia and the Philippines. The other case was reported to the health authority as a suspected dengue fever case by the hospital, which was subsequently confirmed as a chikungunya fever case. As of August 12, a cumulative total of 14 imported cases of chikungunya fever have been confirmed, which reaches a record high during the same period in years and 3.5 times more than that during the same period in the past 5 years (an average of 4 cases were reported during the same period in the past 5 years). Thus far this year, 10 cases were imported from Indonesia, 2 cases were imported from the Philippines, and 1 case was respectively imported from Thailand and Singapore. Hence, Taiwan CDC urges the public to take protection measures against mosquito bites when visiting areas affected by dengue and chikungunya fever in Southeast Asia to prevent infection.

Since “chinkungunya fever” was listed as a Category II Notifiable Infectious Disease in October 2007, an accumulative total of 54 cases have been confirmed and all of them were imported. 32 cases were imported from Indonesia, 6 cases were respectively imported from Malaysia and the Philippines, 3 cases were imported from Thailand, 2 cases were imported from Singapore, 1 case was respectively imported from India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Cambodia, and 1 case of unknown origin because the case visited several countries during the incubation period.

According to international epidemic surveillance data, the ongoing chikungunya outbreaks in Southeast Asia continue to persist at elevated levels. At the time of writing, residents in 8 provinces of the Philippines have been found to simultaneously contract chikungunya and dengue fever. An accumulative total of 2,594 suspected cases were reported in the Philippines during January and June, 2013 and 157 of them were confirmed. In Singapore, this year’s number of chikungunya fever cases has also continued to increase. As of August 3, an accumulative total of 488 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported, which is 54 times that during the same period last year (9 cases were reported during the same period last year) and 23 times that during the same period in the past five years (an average of 21 cases were reported during the same period in the past five years).

Opportunities for people to travel overseas increase as the winter break is fast approaching. Moreover, dengue and chikungunya fever are endemic in Southeast Asia all year round. Therefore, Taiwan CDC urges travelers visiting endemic areas to take precautions against mosquito bites such as wearing light-colored clothing, long sleeves and long pants and applying officially approved mosquito repellent to exposed parts of the body to lower the risk of infection. Taiwan CDC emphasizes if symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue, retroorbital pain, myalgia, and arthragia develop after returning to Taiwan, please seek immediate medical attention and inform the doctor of any recent travel history and activity to facilitate prompt diagnosis and case reporting. For any questions or further information, please call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Care Hotline, 1922, or 0800-001922 if calling from a cell phone, or visit the Taiwan CDC’s website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw.