A teacher takes the temperature of a student at a Taichung school yesterday. Education authorities have recommended the policy to prevent the spread of swine flu. CNA

TAIPEI: People caught in devastated areas of Taiwan remain under threat of diseases in the wake of Typhoon Morakot: dysentery, exogenous febrile disease, cholera, amoebic dysentery, leptospirosis and dengue fever.

Many developed fever in the days immediately following the storm's passage.

The many villagers in southern Taiwan affected by fever in the wake of Typhoon Morakot have been cleared of A (H1N1) infection, health authorities said yesterday, though the test results are still preliminary.

Lin Ting, director-general of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said that more than 30 residents in the flood-affected Wandan township in Pingtung county, southern Taiwan, have developed fevers since August 17. Thirteen have been hospitalized.

However, in all cases, the symptoms were different from those of swine flu, Lin said, adding that the CDC is carrying out tests to determine the cause of the patients' illnesses.

Those who developed fevers and sore muscles might have contracted other types of viruses while they were cleaning up their flooded homes in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, CDC officials suggested.

The "Ministry of National Defense" (MOND) also denied media reports yesterday that a dozen soldiers working in the typhoon disaster areas had been infected with the A (H1N1) virus.

Ten soldiers and officers suffering from a light fever had been diagnosed with a light case of A-type flu, and none was in danger, the MOND said in a news release.

The Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday that 13 soldiers assigned to flood relief in Pingtung county had come down with the swine flu virus. Reportedly they showed severe symptoms such as high fever and coughing. One of the men, according to the report, was taken to a navy hospital in Kaohsiung and was in critical condition.

The military said the condition of the ten officers was not so serious at all. They were being treated at military hospitals in Kaohsiung and Tsoying and at a civilian hospital in Tungkang, Pingtung county.

Meanwhile, officials from the Pingtung County Public Health Bureau said yesterday that all the Wandan residents who had reported having fevers were lucid and in stable condition.

The health authorities called for Pingtung residents to put on waterproof gear when they go outside. That includes rubber boots for those cleaning up flooded areas.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 08/25/2009 page2)