Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/03/23
By: Chang Jung-hsiang and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, March 23 (CNA) Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced Wednesday that this year’s dengue fever season has begun in his city, and he ordered that measures be carried out to prevent mosquitoes that carry the virus from breeding and spreading.

The announcement came one day after the city’s Department of Health confirmed the first indigenous case of dengue fever infection in Tainan this year, two months earlier than the first case was recorded in 2015.

Under the city’s prevention and control protocol, all 37 districts of the city will be required to complete the spraying of anti-mosquito pesticides by the end of April, and ward chiefs will be obliged to help households in cleaning up places where mosquitoes could breed, Lai said.

The southern Taiwan city was hit by the worst dengue fever outbreak in history last year, reporting around 23,000 cases of dengue fever infection that resulted in 112 fatalities, according to the city health department.

The first dengue fever patient of 2016 was a 63-year-old man living in Annan District, who began developing a fever and rash and felt fatigued on March 15. He was not confirmed as having dengue fever until Tuesday, the health department said.     [FULL  STORY]