China : Spike in cases of dengue fever likely in province

Via Xinhua :

" Dengue fever, a potentially fatal, mosquito-borne disease, will be on the minds of many Guangdong residents in the coming months, after a large number of cases were reported in July, said an expert with the provincial center for disease control and prevention.

Eighty-five cases had been reported in July by Monday, although none of them were serious, according to the provincial health department.

The figure represents a big jump from seven in the same month last year, with just three in July 2011 and one in July 2010.

Over the same three-year period, though, October has proved the worst month, with 185 cases in 2012, 22 in 2011 and 66 in 2010.

"Dengue fever occurs mainly between July and November in Guangdong," said He Jianfeng, an expert from the disease control and prevention center.

"Some Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, have had worse outbreaks this year. It is the rainy weather since late June and the subtropical summer temperatures in Guangdong that have helped mosquitoes to breed in large numbers."

Of those cases reported in the southern province this month, 63 were in the city of Zhongshan. Another 22 cases struck in eight cities, including Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Guangzhou, and mainly affected people who had traveled outside China."