Japanese Encephalitis Warning Issued

An early alert for Japanese encephalitis has been issued across the country, about two weeks earlier than last year.

"We issued the alert based on the population density of Culex tritaeniorhynchus mosquitoes collected in Busan," the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The alert is issued when the number of these mosquitoes collected is more than 500 on average per day and they take up over 50 percent of all mosquitoes collected. The population density has not exceeded 50 percent in any other region yet.

Most bites produce no or slight fever symptoms, but in one in every 250 cases they can result in acute symptoms of the nervous system and even death.

The best prevention is to minimize bare skin with long brightly-colored pants and long-sleeved shirts when outdoors and use mosquito repellent.