While Ebola is getting all the headlines, China is dealing with "the worst outbreak in decades" of Dengue Fever. As ITAR-TASS reports, [5] the outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease in China has killed six people and infected more than 27,200 according to Chinese health officials. Just today, the epidemic has infected 1,826 more people in the Guangdong Province alone. But it's not just China, last month Malaysia reported that dengue fever deaths had more than tripled in 2014, while Japan recently saw its first outbreak in 70 years with many contracting the illness at Tokyo's popular Yoyogi Park.
As ITAR-TASS reports [5],
An outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever in China has killed six people and infected more than 27,200, a Chinese health authority spokeswoman said on Thursday.
Song Shuli, spokeswoman of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said that this year witnessed an apparent increase of dengue cases with most of them found in China's southern regions, including Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan and Guangxi.
Unusually high temperatures and humid weather have contributed to a mosquito population in South China five times as high as normal, fuelling the outbreak, health officials said.
Spread by mosquitoes, the disease thrives in tropical mega cities thanks to rapid urbanization and population movement. Climate change is also a factor, giving rise to longer periods that infected mosquitos can survive.
Chinese authorities have attributed the outbreak to high temperatures and wet weather, and increasing travel to dengue-prevalent places.
The number of mosquitoes is also said to have increased five-fold.
The outbreak is also thought to have been exacerbated by the week-long holiday celebrating China's National Day. Daily health reports indicate that there are more than 1,000 new infections a day.
And it's getting worse (as Xinhua notes)
A total of 1,826 new cases of dengue were confirmed in south China's Guangdong Province on Wednesday, local authorities said on Thursday.
The provincial health and family planning commission reported that the number of dengue infections rose to 26,270, with the capital, Guangzhou, hit worst with 22,378 cases.
The disease, which has killed six people, has been detected in 20 prefecture-level cities in the province, where the outbreak this year is believed to be the worst in two decades.
The government and public have sprayed insecticide to kill the mosquitoes that spread the virus.
"We are screening 500 to 600 people for dengue symptoms each day now."
* * *
The potentially fatal disease causes high fever and severe joint pain. It affects from 50 million to 100 million people in tropical and subtropical regions every year, estimates the World Health Organization.
Apart from China, dengue fever cases have been reported in Malaysia, Japan and Venezuela.
Last month Malaysia reported that dengue fever deaths had more than tripled in 2014, while Japan recently saw its first outbreak in 70 years with many contracting the illness at Tokyo's popular Yoyogi Park.
There is currently no vaccine available for dengue
* * *
CDC HealthMap for last 3 months Dengue Fever reports...
[7]
