The number of locally transmitted dengue fever cases in Taiwan has reached a 10-year high in recent days. Taoyuan's Department of Environmental Protection encourages residents to undertake environmental sanitation to limit breeding habitats for disease-carrying mosquitoes and prevent dengue fever epidemics. Citizens must also strengthen home and neighborhood inspections, apply "Patrol, Empty, Clean, Brush," remove stagnant water containers, and follow the three "No's": "No mosquito breeding, No mosquito bites, No mosquito entry," removing dengue fever breeding sources completely.
During dengue fever peak seasons, the Taoyuan Environmental Maintenance and Inspection Division implements a substantial dengue fever disinfection strategy twice a year, in April and August. They disinfect all 506 villages and 500 elementary and secondary schools around the city. The 506 villages are divided into two groups and disinfected twice a year. The first round concluded on June 11th, with the second round beginning on August 1st. Furthermore, throughout the summer vacation period, they will conduct environmental disinfection on 500 school campuses to complete all disinfection before the start of the school year. The schedule and relevant precautions for disinfection are also posted on the Environmental Maintenance and Inspection Division's website under the "Disinfection and Publicity Section" (https://www.tyemid.gov.tw/DisinfectionPublicity) for citizens to check and stay informed about the disinfection schedule.
According to Shih-Wei Chen, the Director of the Department of Environmental Protection, the number of locally transmitted dengue fever cases has hit a 10-year high. Furthermore, recent summer days have been marked by substantial afternoon showers. Static runoff-filled containers after a hard rain serve as mosquito breeding sites. Residents are asked to remove stagnant water containers from their homes following the "Patrol, Empty, Clean, Brush'' strategy to avoid another dengue fever outbreak similar to the one in 2020. To effectively inhibit the reproduction of disease-carrying mosquitoes and reduce the risk of epidemic transmission, they should also encourage the habit of "cleaning after cleaning, inspecting after inspecting." However, chemical control is only a transitory measure; the key to preventing and controlling dengue fever is eradicating the breeding grounds of disease-carrying mosquitoes. Without disease-carrying vectors, dengue fever cannot exist. In addition, the Department of Environmental Protection will intensify inspections. If mosquito larvae are discovered in stagnant water containers and the proprietors do not comply with advice to rectify the situation, they will be reported under the Waste Disposal Act and face fines of up to NT$6,000.
The Environmental Maintenance and Inspection Division emphasized that even 0.5 centimeters of stagnant water can become a breeding ground for disease-carrying mosquito larvae. For the sake of their own and their family's health, citizens should take immediate action to eliminate breeding grounds. Places such as the outer roofs of homes, vegetable gardens, flower beds, and indoor containers like vases, water tanks, flower pot trays, and refrigerator defrost trays are easy to accumulate stagnant water and are often overlooked. The prevention and control of dengue fever are simple - by thoroughly cleaning containers inside and outside the house, emptying stagnant water containers, covering up the containers, brushing away mosquito eggs attached to containers, and avoiding helping disease-carrying mosquitoes breed. Citizens can effectively avoid the threat of dengue fever and safeguard the health of their families.