Straits Times
Date: Sep 25, 2015
TAIPEI • Taiwan is facing its deadliest outbreak of dengue fever with a record high of 42
A residential area in Tainan being fumigated on Tuesday. PHOTO: EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
deaths – double the number that died last year, the authorities warned.
Last year saw 15,732 cases – by far the highest in nearly three decades – with this year shaping up to overtake it.
The total number of cases for this year has already hit 15,282, the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, with the majority in southern Tainan City.
Unusually hot weather has caused the increase, it said.
High temperatures and humidity encourage breeding of mosquitoes, which is why countries with tropical climates – including Taiwan – tend to be plagued by dengue fever every year.
“This year saw temperatures in Tainan and (the southern region of) Kaohsiung at their highest in 30 years,” Mr Chuang Jen-hsiang, CDC’s deputy director said. [FULL STORY]
