Taipei, July 2 (CNA) A Kaohsiung man in his 30s has become the first reported indigenous dengue fever case in Taiwan this year, the Centers for Disease Control announced Monday.
The patient sought treatment June 28 after coming down with a fever, a headache, and a loss of appetite, and he was hospitalized two days later after the symptoms persisted and muscle pain set in, the CDC said.
He was confirmed to have a dengue virus type 3 (DENV-3) infection on Sunday and has been kept in isolation since, according to the CDC.
The CDC determined that the patient was this year's first indigenous dengue fever case in Taiwan because he did not travel overseas during the incubation period prior to the onset of his disease, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said.
The disease does not seem to have spread, however, because none of the patient's family members or those living in his community have developed any suspicious symptoms to date, Lo said.
DENV-1 and DENV-2 have been the dominant strains in major dengue fever outbreaks in the past few years, with the exception of 2010 when a minor DENV-3 outbreak took place in Kaohsiung.
There have been only a few isolated cases of DENV-3 infection in Taiwan since the 2010 outbreak, according to Lo.
DENV-3 in Taiwan is usually considered to be an imported DENV strain, originating mainly in the Philippines, and the CDC could not rule out the possibility of imported cases hidden in the patient's neighborhood, Lo said.
But compared with dengue fever types 1 and 2, DENV-3 is less likely to lead to severe complications and only poses a minor threat if an outbreak occurs, according to Lo.
Lo felt that dengue fever can be kept under control this year because in recent years when large dengue fever outbreaks have occurred, the first indigenous dengue fever case was reported in April or May, much earlier than this year's first indigenous case.
According to CDC statistics, there have been 94 imported cases of dengue fever so far this year. Most of the imported cases reported over the past month have been from Cambodia, the Philippines and Thailand.
The CDC reminded residents to take precautionary measures when traveling to dengue endemic countries, and to seek treatment as soon as possible when symptoms of dengue fever, including fevers, headaches, severe muscle and joint pain, eye socket pain, and skin rash, become apparent.
(By Chen Wei-ting and Evelyn Kao)
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