Guangdong’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention has initiated a campaign to prevent and combat dengue fever, according to China Daily, after 79 cases of the mosquito-borne disease were confirmed in the province over the past three and a half months. The cases have popped up in 13 prefecture-level cities across Guangdong.
Lin Lifeng, the CDC’s deputy director, has stated that he is not optimistic about the infection rate, as the number of cases has increased dramatically from 2018.
“Guangdong reported only 10 confirmed dengue fever cases in the same period last year,” said Lin, according to China Daily. Additionally, Lin added, the density of mosquitoes since March has been greater than during the same timeframe in 2018.
According to the World Health Organization, dengue fever causes flu-like symptoms and can occasionally morph into a potentially lethal complication known as ‘severe dengue.’
Details are scarce concerning the concrete measures that will be taken to prevent the spread of dengue fever, but China Daily does note that Chinese embassies in Southeast Asia are encouraging their citizens to exercise caution while traveling in the region to avoid becoming infected with the potentially deadly disease.
Chinese embassies in Southeast Asia are encouraging their citizens to exercise caution to avoid becoming infected with the potentially deadly disease. Image via Pixabay
The fear that Chinese citizens may become infected with dengue and transport the disease back home is not unfounded: incidences of dengue fever are rising in Southeast Asia and a traveler from Shantou, Guangdong became infected with the illness earlier this month in Cambodia.
In response to the heightened risk, at least one property management company in Guangzhou’s Tianhe District has begun spraying mosquito-killing insecticides three times per week, up from less than once a week previously.
The public is being told not to panic, because, according to Lin, dengue fever can usually be prevented, treated and cured.
READ MORE: China’s Fighting Zika with Bio-Engineered Mosquitoes
[Cover image via Pixabay]
1 User Comments