(task) Over 21,000 in Guangdong now infected with dengue fever: Shanghaiist

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health, China

http://shanghaiist.com/2014/10/07/over-21000-cases-dengue-fever-guangdong.php

Over 21,000 in Guangdong now infected with dengue fever

Reported cases of dengue fever in Guangdong province climbed to over 21,000 on Sunday, according to the provincial health department, doubling the amount reported last week.

A total of 21,527 cases of the mosquito-borne virus were reported across 20 cities in the province by midnight on Sunday, a startling increase from the 10,743 cases that made headlines on September 27.

So far, six people have died from the disease. Officials in Guangzhou pledged weeks ago to contain the outbreak, but it's been described as an "extremely challenging prevention effort," according to SCMP.

State enterprises and schools are now putting quarantine measures in place, and Guangzhou has launched a campaign to clean pooled water where mosquitos thrive.

Dengue outbreaks have spread across Guangdong, Hainan and Guangxi since the 90s, but this year's epidemic has been described as the worst in two decades.

Wet weather and warm temperatures in the region have been blamed for the excessive mosquito population which has swelled five times its normal level in Guangdong.

The National Health and Family Planning Commision said that around 80 percent of dengue cases in the country have been seen in Guangdong.

We'd be outta there faster than the legions of people who fled from that prostitution bust.

[Image Credit: bogdog Dan]