The Macau Health Bureau (SSM) is urging residents to stay alert to the threat of dengue fever after considering that the city’s risk of the spread of the disease remains relatively high because of a continuous increase in the number of dengue fever infections in neighbouring regions and countries.

An SSM statement on Wednesday noted that as of the end of last month, Guangdong had recorded 252 cases of dengue fever this year, 184 of which were recorded last month.

As of Monday, the statement noted, China’s Taiwan region had recorded 10,496 locally transmitted cases of dengue fever this year, most of which were confirmed in Tainan.

In addition, the statement said, a number of Southeast Asian countries have also been seriously affected by dengue fever this year as they have recorded a large year-on-year increase in the number of dengue fever cases so far this year.

According to the SSM statement, as of early this week 5,567 cases of dengue fever had been recorded in Singapore this year, 91,979 cases in Thailand, 71,193 cases in Malaysia, and 57,698 cases in Vietnam. The statement said that Malaysia had recorded a year-on-year increase of over 100 percent in the number of dengue fever cases so far this year compared to the same period of last year, while Thailand had recorded a year-on-year rise of around 700 percent.

The statement noted that stagnant water is likely to accumulate in outdoor containers because of the city’s relatively heavy rainfall over recent weeks. In addition, the statement said, the currently still hot weather is conducive to the breeding of Aedes albopictus mosquitoes.

Consequently, the statement said, Macau is still in a high-risk season for the spread of dengue fever.

As of yesterday, three imported cases of dengue fever had been recorded in Macau this year, in addition to a case in which a woman living in Macau was diagnosed with the disease in Zhuhai in early July after returning to Macau from Thailand and Malaysia.

The statement underlined that the Health Bureau is closely monitoring the latest development of dengue fever infections in various countries and regions. 

2009 file photo of Aedes aegypti feeding in Dar es Salaam,Tanzania. Photo courtesy of Muhammad Mahdi Karim/Wikimedia Commons