Bangkok (dpa) - Thailand's Public Health Ministry is launching a
campaign to fight a sharp upsurge in dengue fever, which officials
fear could hit a record high of 120,000 cases this year, reports said
Monday.
In the past week, 5,276 new dengue fever cases and six deaths have
been recorded throughout the country, with the highest concentration
of cases in the northern region, state broadcaster MCOT reported.
Public Health Minister Pradit Sintavanarong said the campaign will
employ more than a million volunteers from July 10-17 to combat
mosquitoes in residential areas, schools and temples while educating
people about the disease.
Dengue, also called haemorrhagic fever, is transmitted by Aedes
mosquito, which thrives in places where clean, standing water is
present, such as old tyres or empty bottles.
Opas Karnkavinpong, deputy director general of the Department of
Disease Control, said it was working to keep the number of infections
below 100,000 this year, but it could reach as high as 120,000.
There have been 59,318 reported cases and 68 deaths so far this
year in Thailand.
For the whole of 2012, 74,250 people were infected with the
disease nationwide, with 79 deaths, according to the Department of
Disease Control.
Dengue has been on the rise for several years in South-east Asia,
but health officials have warned that recent cases reported in such
diverse locations as Madeira, Portugal, Nice, France, and Miami,
Florida, could be attributed to global warming and the consequent
expansion of breeding grounds for Aedes mosquitoes.
Copyright 2013 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH