Chungnam Predicts and Proactively Responds to Japanese Encephalitis Outbreak from March to October

Small Red House Mosquito. Source=Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Chungnam Provincial Institute of Health and Environment announced on the 25th that it will conduct a "Japanese Encephalitis Prediction Project" to proactively respond to Japanese encephalitis infections.

The project will be intensively carried out from March to October to monitor the appearance and population density of the primary vector of Japanese encephalitis, the small red house mosquito.

At one livestock farm location in the budget area, light traps will be installed and collections will be conducted twice a week to investigate the first appearance and population density of the small red house mosquito.

Additionally, the collected mosquitoes will be tested for Japanese encephalitis virus infection to serve as basic data for issuing Japanese encephalitis advisories and warnings. The resulting data will be shared with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Chungnam Province, and 15 cities and counties.

Meanwhile, Japanese encephalitis is a zoonotic viral infectious disease primarily transmitted by the small red house mosquito, and can infect humans, horses, pigs, and poultry.

The incubation period is 7 to 14 days, and more than 99% of infected individuals show no symptoms. However, some exhibit fever symptoms, and in severe cases, it can progress to encephalitis, leading to death or complications such as speech impairment or cognitive decline even after recovery.

In the past three years nationwide, the number of Japanese encephalitis patients was ▲17 in 2018 ▲34 in 2019 ▲7 in 2020.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.