During November 6 and 12, 2012 (Week 45), 84 new indigenous dengue cases were reported. Of the new cases, 46 cases reside in Kaohsiung City, 37 cases reside in Tainan City and 1 case resides in New Taipei City. Since the beginning of this summer, a cumulative total of 972 dengue cases have been confirmed, including 638 cases that reside in Tainan City, 319 cases that reside in Kaohsiung City, 7 cases that reside in Taoyuan County, 3 cases that reside in New Taipei City, and one case that resides in Taipei City, Miaoli County, Chiayi County, Taitung County and Penghu County.

11 of the 46 new cases in Kaohsiung City have been reported in Linyuan District and another 11 cases have been reported in Cianjhen District, while 9 of the 37 new cases in Tainan City have been reported in North District and 7 cases have been reported respectively in West Central District and South District. The one new case reported in New Taipei City has been found to originate from Tainan City according to the epidemiological investigation conducted by the local health authority.  

Overall, this year’s dengue activity appears to plateau after reaching its peak during Week 38. However, recently, the number of new cases reported in Kaohsiung City has been on the rise, particularly in Linyuan District and Cianjhen District. On the other hand, in Tainan City, the number of new cases reported slightly increased during Week 41, but the number has been on decline since then. Nevertheless, the number of new case has continued to increase in North District, West Central District and South District during the past few weeks. Further, the distribution of cases has continued to spread wider, showing further spread of dengue virus. Hence, Taiwan CDC once again urges the public to remain vigilant against dengue virus and clean up and remove vector-breeding sites to prevent further transmission.

To effectively prevent dengue transmission in the community, Taiwan CDC urges the public to voluntarily remove standing water, clean up vector breeding sites and reduce the number of water-storage containers in and around residences at least once a week to prevent the spread of dengue fever. According to Article 70 of the Communicable Disease Control Act, anyone who refuses, evades or obstructs disease control measures such as inspection decided by competent authorities or fails to notify the competent authorities of the presence of vector breeding sites that is later identified by competent authorities or clean up vector breeding sites as requested by competent authorities may be fined NT$ 3,000 up to NT$ 15,000. In addition, physicians are urged to pay particular attention when diagnosing patients with a fever and report suspected cases to the health authority as soon as possible. For any questions or further information on dengue fever or dengue hemorrhagic fever, please call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922, or 0800-024582 if calling from a cell phone, or visit the Taiwan CDC’s website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw.