Dengue fever cases top 15,000 in Taiwan
2015/09/24 11:12:12
A worker spreads pesticide in Kaohsiung Thursday.
Taipei, Sept. 24 (CNA) The number of dengue fever cases recorded since May has increased to 15,282, with 98.4 percent occurring in southern Taiwan's most populous cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Thursday.
The nationwide figure represents an increase of 692 cases from the previous day, the CDC said.
As of Sept. 22, 13,251 cases had been reported in Tainan, while Kaohsiung has had 1,781 cases. The two municipalities have a combined population of 4.65 million.
The CDC said Sept. 23 that 42 people had died of dengue fever since May 1, which has already surpassed the level for the whole of last year, when 28 people died.
The death toll is a 14-year-high, the CDC said, adding that it is still examining 29 suspected cases.
A total of 15,732 dengue fever cases were reported nationally in 2014, by far the highest annual number since official records began.
(By Lee Hsin-Yin)
