The Taiwan Department of Disease Control announced (computer translated) the first case of local dengue fever in the country this year. The patient is a 30-year-old man of Kaohsiung City.

Aedes mosquito
Aedes aegypti image/CDC

He presented with fever, headache, loss of appetite and other symptoms on June 28 at  the medical clinic. He was hospitalized two days later after the symptoms persisted and muscle pain occurred.

He was confirmed to have a dengue virus type 3 (DENV-3) infection by laboratory testing.

According to health authorities, there is no history of foreign travel during the incubation period. The usual activities are home and work, and based on this, it is being called indigenous.

In addition to this locally-acquired case, Taiwan has seen 94 imported cases of dengue fever so far this year. Most of the imported cases reported over the past month have been from Cambodia, the Philippines and Thailand.

Dengue fever is an infectious disease carried by mosquitoes and caused by any of four related dengue viruses. This disease used to be called “break-bone fever” because it sometimes causes severe joint and muscle pain that feels like bones are breaking.

People get the dengue virus from the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. It is not contagious from person to person.

There are three types of dengue fever in order of less severe to most: the typical uncomplicated dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHS) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS).