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Taipei, Aug. 8 (CNA) Two more cases of indigenous dengue fever infection have been reported in Taiwan, with one in the capital, Taipei, and the other in neighboring New Taipei, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported Wednesday.

The patient in Taipei is a woman in her 20s who lives in Neihu District, the agency said in a statement.

The woman developed symptoms of fever, headache and diarrhea July 28, and sought medical treatment Aug. 2, when she tested positive to dengue fever infection, according to Ou Chia-ling (歐佳齡), a division chief at the Taipei Department of Health.

The CDC confirmed the case as an indigenous dengue fever Tuesday after performing a second serum test on the patient, Ou said.

In the CDC statement, the second of the latest dengue fever cases was in New Taipei's Xinzhuang District, in which a man aged over 60 was reported to have developed symptoms Aug. 5.

The agency said the Taipei case was found to have been infected by a dengue virus type 1, close to an imported virus from Cambodia.

Efforts were being made to seek the source of the infection of the patient, who was found to have stayed mostly in Neihu and Xizhi during the incubation period, the CDC said.

The investigation was launched because there had been no dengue fever cases reported from those districts this year until Tuesday, it added.

As for the New Taipei case, the agency went on, the man was suspected to be a victim of a dengue fever cluster infection in Xinzhuang after he was confirmed to have been infected by a type-2 dengue virus.

CDC data shows that since July, there have been 12 indigenous dengue fever cases reported nationwide, 11 of which have occurred in Greater Taipei (nine in New Taipei and two in Taipei).

Ou noted that the two cases in Taipei were hit by two different virus types. "They are not a cluster infection, and efforts are being made to find the infection sources," he said.

With the number of infections rising, the CDC said it has organized a dengue fever response team, with CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) serving as the team leader, to take reinforced measures to prevent the mosquito-borne disease from spreading.

(By Wu Hsin-yun, Liang Pei-chi and Elizabeth Hsu)
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