In the morning of August 3, 2010, the Department of Health (DOH) and the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) held the “Second Dengue Fever Coordination Meeting” in the Southern Taiwan Joint Services Center as the peak season for dengue approached.The conference was attended by related central government agencies and local governments from high-risk cities and counties where the disease is endemic and issues concerning dengue control were discussed.

As of August 3, 2010, 99 confirmed cases of dengue fever, including 50 indigenous cases, have been reported. Among them, 38 cases are reported from the continuing outbreak of the last epidemic season (2009), while the other 12 cases are the new cases that occurred during this epidemic season (2010).According to the surveillance data from the previous years, the peak of dengue fever usually begins in August.To step up dengue control efforts during the peak season, the “Second Dengue Fever Coordination Meeting” was held.At the meeting, the Kaohsiung County Government and the Kaohsiung City Government delivered their work reports and the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Transportation respectively presented project plans concerning measures to eliminate vector breeding sites.

At the meeting, a wide consensus was reached on several issues among the participating agencies. For instance, it was agreed that a single point of contact should be set up to deal with problems concerning mosquito breeding at old houses, land and facilities rapidly and reinforce mosquito management.In addition, a website called EcoLife (http://ecolife.epa.gov.tw/) set up by EPA to promote voluntary neighborhood cleanup activities could be utilized to monitor mosquito breeding grounds by volunteers.