GUANGZHOU, July 20
(Xinhua) -- Thirty-seven people have been
confirmed as having contracted dengue
fever in Zhongshan City in south
China's Guangdong Province, local
authorities said on
Saturday.
As of Friday
afternoon, all 37 patients were found
in five localities in the
city's Huangpu Township since July 16,
and it is likely that more
cases will be reported, the Guangdong
provincial disease control and prevention
center said.
He Jianfeng, an
expert from the disease control and
prevention center, said the patients
have been hospitalized, showing mild
symptoms of muscle pains and skin
rashes.
None of them had
made trips to Southeast Asia, where
most infections occur, indicating that
the outbreak is not imported,
according to He.
He attributed
the outbreak to the rainy weather
which favored mosquito reproduction and
said the situation had been brought
under control.
The number of
contractions of the potentially fatal,
mosquito-borne disease has been rising
year on year. Experts have warned
about controlling and preventing the
mosquito bites that transmit it.
