On August 11, 2016, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) announced this summer’s second indigenous dengue case confirmed in Kaohsiung City.　 The case is a 43-year-old female who resides in Fongshan District, Kaohsiung City. On August 4, she developed symptoms, including fever, headache and muscle ache. On August 6, she sought medical attention at a clinic. On August 8, when her symptoms persisted, she sought further medical attention at a hospital and was hospitalized. Infection with dengue fever was then laboratory confirmed in the case. The number of days between her symptom onset date and the date of reporting her case to the health authority is 4. As of now, the case has been discharged from the hospital and is gradually recovering. Taiwan CDC urges the public to reinforce the cleaning and removal of vector breeding sites in and around their residence in order to lower the risk of infection. If suspected symptoms develop, please seek immediate medical attention. Additionally, healthcare facilities are also urged to report suspected cases to the health authority as soon as possible in order to facilitate subsequent implementation of prevention measures and prevent local outbreaks from occurring.

According to the epidemiological investigation, the case had not had dengue fever previously and had not recently traveled abroad. The case’s primary areas of daily activities include places around her residence and her workplace. To prevent the further spread of the disease, the local health authority has implemented various prevention measures upon receiving the report of the case, including cleaning of vector breeding sites, investigating the mosquito population density around the case’s residence and workplace, monitoring and following up on the case’s close contacts, and providing the public with relevant health education. So far, none of the 6 family members residing in the same household with the case have developed suspected symptoms.

Since the beginning of this summer on May 1, 2016, a total of 4 indigenous cases have been reported in Taiwan, which is significantly less than what were reported during the same period in the last two years.　This achievement is not only a result of close communication and collaboration between the central and local governments, but also a result of active implementation of various prevention and control measures that started earlier this year. As of August 11, 2016, a cumulative total of 191 imported dengue cases have been confirmed in Taiwan thus far this year, and they were mostly from Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia. As the temperature in Taiwan remains high, intermittent rain continues to occur, and the risk of importing dengue fever into Taiwan remains, the risk of a local outbreak happening can be elevated at any time. Therefore, the public is reminded to remain vigilant for dengue fever.

Taiwan CDC once again urges the public to empty and clean any potential vector breeding sites in and around the home periodically in order to prevent dengue transmission. Travelers planning to visit areas affected by dengue fever are urged to take precautions against mosquito bites. 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).