There could be light at the end of the tunnel for Taiwan’s dengue fever outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that after the number of new cases rose steadily for 14 weeks in a row, it finally dropped off last week.
So far this summer, there have been 13,209 recorded cases of dengue fever. Officials say that the number of new cases reported on Sunday was 443. The majority of those – 347 – were in the hardest hit city, Tainan. Those numbers represent a drop-off from the previous record highs.
On Monday, the deputy head of the CDC, Chuang Jen-hsiang spoke about the new numbers, saying that more work is needed.
“The central government, the local governments, and the public have been working to combat the fever over the past weeks," said Chuang.
"Now we’ve begun to see good results, and we need to continue our efforts, because dengue fever usually peaks in October or November," he said.
Chuang said that it takes three weeks to determine whether an outbreak of the fever has slowed down. If the number of dengue fever cases keeps dropping for two more weeks, the CDC can then announce that the situation has stabilized.