TAIPEI, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan has seen 20,241 dengue fever cases since May, in the worst outbreak of the disease in 17 years, although it is now moderating, the island's disease control center reported on Sunday.

It said the daily number of dengue fever cases confirmed in the southern city of Tainan, the most seriously affected area, has decreased for 10 consecutive days.

As of Saturday, there had been 17,278 cases in Tainan and 2,636 in the neighboring city of Kaohsiung.

A total of 16,879 patients have recovered, while five deaths in the past week were suspected to be related to dengue fever. Another 53 dengue-infected patients were in intensive care on Saturday.

The public are urged to carry out regular inspections to make sure their homes are clean and dry, especially after the heavy rain brought by Typhoon Dujuan last week.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne, potentially fatal disease that mainly affects people in tropical and subtropical regions, causing fever, nausea and muscle and joint aches.