On June 28, 2016, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) announced that Pingtung County confirmed its first indigenous dengue case since this summer. The case is a 58-year-old female who resides in Pingtung City. On June 24, when she subsequently developed symptoms such as headache, dry mouth, and fever, she sought medical attention at a hospital. On June 26, when she sought further medical attention, she was reported to the health authority as a suspected dengue case by the hospital. Two days later, infection with dengue fever was confirmed in the case. As of now, the case is resting at home to recover. As the temperature in all of Taiwan has been increasing and afternoon rain has often occurred, mosquitoes have begun to thrive. Therefore, the public is urged to reinforce the cleaning and removal of vector breeding sites and travelers planning to visit areas affected by vector-borne diseases are urged to take precautions against mosquito bites.

According to the epidemiological investigation, the case had never had dengue fever before and has no history of chronic conditions. The case’s primary areas of daily activities are places around her residence. Approximately, 3 to 4 days prior to her disease onset, she was bitten by an insect. During the incubation period, she visited the market, the mall and the hospital. Currently, two of the four family members residing in the same household have developed suspected symptoms, but they were tested negative for dengue virus. To prevent the further spread of the disease, the local health authority has implemented relevant prevention and control measures.

Thus far this year, as of June 28, 2016, a cumulative total of 373 indigenous dengue cases, including 340 cases in Kaohsiung City, 21 cases in Pingtung County, 7 cases in Tainan City, and 5 cases in 5 other counties and cities, have been confirmed in Taiwan. The majority of the cases occurred during the outbreak that started last year. The onset dates for the last reported cases in Pingtung County, Tainan City and Kaohsiung City respectively are January 28, March 15 and April 19, 2016. On the other hand, a cumulative total of 135 imported dengue cases have been confirmed in Taiwan and they were mostly from Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

As the weather has been warming up and heavy downpours have continued to occur in the afternoon in Taiwan, the rain could have easily fill household containers with water. If the water-filled containers are not emptied and cleaned in time, they can quickly turn into vector breeding sites, increasing the risk of dengue transmission. Hence, Taiwan CDC urges the public to empty and clean any potential vector breeding sites in and around the home periodically and take precautions against mosquito bites in order to ward off infection. Travelers planning to visit areas affected by dengue fever are urged to take precautions against mosquitoes. If symptoms such as fever, headache, retroorbital pain, myalgia, arthralgia, and rash develop, please seek immediate medical attention and inform the doctor of any relevant medical history, recent travel history and activity to facilitate prompt diagnosis and case reporting. For more information, please visit the Taiwan CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922 (or 0800-001922).