No abstract

Airport fever screening in Taiwan, July 2003–June 2004, identified 40 confirmed dengue cases. Results obtained by capture immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG enzyme-linked immunoassay, real time 1-step polymerase chain reaction, and virus isolation showed that 33 (82.5%) of 40 patients were viremic. Airport fever screening can thus quickly identify imported dengue cases.

We presented our surveillance results on imported dengue cases in Taiwan during 2003-2007. A total of 542 imported dengue patients were identified. The travelers were infected in 17 countries in Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, East African islands, South Pacific islands, and Central America. Most of these imported cases were infected in Southeast Asian countries. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted to examine 288 imported dengue virus (DENV) strains introduced from 13 countries. The results provide an updated view on the geographic distribution and dynamic transmission of epidemic DENV stains circulated in Southeast Asian countries. Although the geographic distributions of genotypes of DENV-3 isolated from Southeast Asian countries remain unchanged, the introductions and local expansions of epidemic DENV-1, DENV-2, and DENV-4 strains into new areas in Asia were observed. These findings highlight the importance to strengthen laboratory-based dengue surveillance for better understanding of transmission dynamics and molecular evolution of DENVs.

We present the results of laboratory-based dengue surveillance in Taiwan for 2005. A phylogenetic study showed that multiple dengue epidemics were caused by three different imported dengue virus (DENV) strains. A strain of DENV-3 (genotype I) imported from the Philippines first appeared in the southern part of Kaohsiung City and later spread to Kaohsiung County from August to December, which resulted in 77 cases of dengue. Another strain of DENV-3 (genotype II) imported from Vietnam first appeared in the central part of Kaohsiung City and later spread to Kaohsiung County from September to December, which resulted in 35 cases of dengue. A strain of DENV-2 (American/Asian genotype) imported from Vietnam first appeared in Tainan City and later spread to Kaohsiung City/County from October to December, which resulted in 60 cases of dengue. This study provides molecular epidemiologic evidence that most dengue in Taiwan is caused by imported strains of the virus.