Epidemic Hazard - Covid-19

Two people who had traveled in China’s Guangdong Province were diagnosed with chikungunya fever, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.Two members of the same family who live in the same household in Kinmen County traveled to Guangdong’s Chaozhou City early this month and returned on Oct. 7, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said.They developed fevers, joint pain and rashes on Oct. 9 and sought medical treatment on Monday last week, Tseng said, adding that test results came back positive for the chikungunya virus.The two people have recovered, she said.As they were in Guangdong during the incubation period, they were counted as imported cases, she said.However, they returned to Kinmen during the viremia period — when the virus is in the bloodstream and can be transmitted — so the local health department conducted mosquito density surveillance and implemented chemical controls near their home, urged nearby residents to monitor their own health, and reminded local medical workers to remain vigilant and report cases with symptoms indicating the disease, she said.CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said that chikungunya is spread via bites by mosquitoes — primarily Aedes albopictus, or the Asian tiger mosquito, and Aedes aegypti, or the yellow fever mosquito — carrying the virus and the incubation period is usually between two to 12 days, while the viremia period is usually between two days prior to the onset of symptoms and five days after onset.Chikungunya and dengue fever share symptoms including fever, headache, muscle pain and rashes, but chikungunya can also cause persistent, severe joint pain that can last for months or years, Lin said, adding that infants, elderly people and people with chronic conditions, including hypertension, diabetes and heart disease, have a higher risk of developing severe complications.Since a local chikungunya outbreak in Guangdong began in July, the province has reported nearly 20,000 cases, with 2,086 cases in its latest weekly report, mainly in Jiangmen City, followed by the cities of Foshan, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, Tseng said.People traveling to Guangdong and other areas where chikungunya is spreading should take preventive actions against mosquito bites, she said.Meanwhile, the CDC said there were 128,915 hospital visits for flu-like illnesses and 53 cases of severe flu complications in the seven days to Saturday.Although hospital visits fell by 7.8 percent from the previous seven-day period, indicating that the first peak of the flu season has passed, the epidemic period is ongoing and the CDC expects cases to rise in the middle of next month, reaching another peak near the Lunar New Year in the middle of February, Tseng said.The weekly number of COVID-19 cases in the week to Saturday increased for the first time in 18 weeks, she said.<br />Although the number of cases is relatively low, the centers would continue to monitor the situation, she added.As vaccines usually provide protection about two weeks after vaccination, people eligible for government-funded flu and COVID-19 vaccines are urged to get them as soon possible, the CDC said.