Dengue fever surge triggers mosquito alert

Health chiefs have urged travellers headed to Guangdong province and places including Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia to try to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes after a surge in dengue fever that is believed to be responsible for at least three deaths.

More than 10,000 cases of the mosquito-borne disease have been recorded in Guangdong this year - half of these in the past week alone.

Elsewhere across Southeast Asia, more than 80,000 cases have been confirmed, the Centre for Health Protection said. A British volunteer worker died this week after coming down with dengue fever on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The centre's controller, Dr Leung Ting-hung, said two deaths had been reported among the 10,000 cases in Guangdong.

He said 68 imported cases of dengue fever had been confirmed in Hong Kong this year, with the majority from Southeast Asia. Every year 30 to 100 cases are reported in Hong Kong.

Leung said the rise in cases across the region was expected to continue next month, with mosquitoes thriving in the persistent rain and heat.