The consecutive days of rain brought by Typhoons Meranti and Malakas during the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend have resulted in serious floods in several areas in Taiwan. Therefore, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) urged residents in flooded areas to remove and clean any standing water and all the containers that collect standing water, pay attention to food safety and environmental hygiene, and take measures to lower the risk of contracting infectious diseases.

As standing water following floods can promote larval breeding, the public is urged to attend to their environmental hygiene through voluntarily and periodically emptying and cleaning around their house, including any standing water on the rooftop and in the basement and draining, as well as removing any unused containers that collect standing water such as used tires, cans, canvas, plastic bottles, and plant pots in order to reduce the breeding of vector mosquitoes and prevent the transmission of dengue fever.

While cleaning up households, be sure to protect your hands and feet by putting on protective gears such as waterproof boots and gloves to prevent puncture wounds or cuts by rusty objects that could lead to leptospirosis, melioidosis, and tetanus. Observe proper water, food and environmental hygiene to prevent enteric diseases. If reservoirs have come in contact with floodwater, they should be cleaned and disinfected first, and then be refilled again. Tap water should be boiled for 3 minutes prior to consumption. When necessary, use bottled water to assure water safety. Do not consume food that has been soaked in the flood water or left unfrozen for too long. To disinfect indoors areas, floors, walls, toilets, showers, kitchens and bedrooms need to be wiped clean and disinfected with a 500ppm chlorine solution (i.e. a solution of 100cc of liquid household bleach in 10 liters of water). To disinfect kitchen utensils and cutleries, they should be boiled, and for those that cannot be boiled, soak them in a 200ppm chlorine solution (i.e. a solution of 40cc of liquid household bleach in 10 liters of water) for 30 minutes.

Taiwan CDC reminds the travelers who visited dengue or Zika-affected areas during the long weekend to seek immediate medical attention if suspected symptoms such as fever, headache, retroorbital pain, muscle ache, joint pain or rash develop after returning to Taiwan. When infection is diagnosed and confirmed, please follow the doctor’s instructions in taking the medicine closely, ensure adequate fluid intake, rest at home as much as possible and take precautions against mosquito bites. On the other hand, physicians are urged to report suspected cases immediately to reduce further transmission.

Taiwan CDC will remain in close contact with the local health bureaus in the nation to monitor the occurrence of infectious diseases after the typhoons. For more information, please contact the local health bureau or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Case Reporting and Care Hotline, 1922, or 0800-001922.