The dengue fever outbreak in South China’s Guangdong Province seems to steamroll ahead as health authorities report an additional 1,400 cases Tuesday.
Officials from the Guangdong Province CDC say the total number of cases now reported is 24,489. The outbreak has skyrocketed in cases since first reported in late July.
In fact, the outbreak, which has been deemed the worst in 20 years, has seen more than 1,000 cases daily since Oct. 1.
Guangzhou City, the provincial capital, has reported nearly 21,000 cases since the outbreak began. Six total fatalities have also been reported.
In neighboring Japan, where the 1st locally transmitted dengue fever case was reported in 69 years in August, has seen its outbreak exceed 150 cases since that first case.
This has prompted Japanese health authorities to create a task force to compile the dengue prevention guidelines by next March.
The guidelines will cover routine operations such as removing mosquitoes, early infection detection measures, and treatments. The guidelines will also include other mosquito borne illness like Japanese encephalitis, West Nile virus and Chikungunya. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page
