Two Clustering Diffusion Patterns Identified from the 2001–2003 Dengue Epidemic, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Chih-Chun Kan Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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Pei-Fen Lee Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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Tzai-Hung Wen Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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Day-Yu Chao Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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Min-Huei Wu Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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Neal H. Lin Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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Scott Yan-Jang Huang Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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Chuin-Shee Shang Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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I-Chun Fan Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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Pei-Yun Shu Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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Jyh-Hsiung Huang Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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Chwan-Chuen King Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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Lu Pai Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Geographic Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Center for Disease Control in Taiwan, Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Graduate Institute of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2008.79.344
Volume/Issue:
Volume 79: Issue 3
Page(s):
344–352
Restricted access
Get Permissions

This study analyzed the spatio-temporal patterns of 4,587 (94% of the total) confirmed dengue cases in Kaohsiung and Fengshan Cities (a two-city area) that occurred in Taiwan from 2001 to 2003. The epidemic had two simultaneous distinct diffusion patterns. One was a contiguous pattern, mostly limited to 1 km from an initial cluster, reflecting that there was a rapid dispersal of infected Aedes aegypti and viremic persons. The second followed a relocation pattern, involving clusters of cases that diffused over 10 weeks starting from the southern and moving to the northern parts of the two-city area. The virus from one clustering site jumped to several distant areas where it rapidly dispersed through a series of human–mosquito transmission cycles to several localities. In both patterns, transmission of disease quickly enlarged the epidemic areas. Future dengue control efforts would benefit from a timely syndromic surveillance system plus extensive public education on how to avoid further transmission.

Author Notes

Reprint requests: Chwan-Chuen King, Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, No. 17, Xu-Zhou Road, Section 1, Taipei (10020), Taiwan, ROC, E-mail: cc_king99@hotmail.com.
Copyright:
Copyright 2008 The American Society of Tropical Medicine 2008
Published Online:
Sep 2008
Cover The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Print ISSN:
0002-9637
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