Naturally he couldn't avoid the bite of a carrier mosquito. Lien recalls that he was in bed for a whole month with a high fever and headache, aching all over his body. "I felt like I had just run a marathon," is how he describes the impact of the disease, which is also known as "breakbone fever."
連日清回憶，當時他整整躺了一個月，高燒、頭痛、全身肌肉骨頭僵痛，「好像剛跑完萬米馬拉松一樣」，吃足了這種「斷骨熱」的苦頭。