Aedes mosquito. Telegraph picture

Balangir, July 22: To ensure that dengue does not spread in the town, the health department here is monitoring the condition of some residents, who are showing fever symptoms of the disease.

A team of entomologists from the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR) field station in Rourkela traced the Aedes mosquitoes that carry the dengue virus to an abandoned tank near the Government Women’s College here yesterday.

The team collected the samples of mosquito and its larvae for conducting test in the laboratory in Rourkela.

The killer mosquitoes were found near the residence of Dipti Prakash Ray, who died of dengue at Rourkela on Monday.

A.K. Upadhyaya, a research scientist with the NIMR, said that they would conduct test of the samples in the Rourkela laboratory to ascertain whether the mosquitoes carried the dengue virus. “Right now we can’t say anything. We have found the mosquitoes here. We are taking the sample with us for test in the laboratory. After the test we can only say whether it carries dengue virus or not,” Upadhyaya said.

The district administration has geared up to tackle the outbreak of dengue by organising a series of awareness programmes on the disease. Chief district medical officer (CDMO), Dr Bikrant Kindo has held discussion with the district collector Salendra Narayan Dey and members of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) from Bhubaneswar who are here to find ways to tackle the disease.

Dr Kindo told The Telegraph that he had taken steps to prevent the spread of vector-borne disease in Balangir.

“We took the blood samples of the family members of the deceased. But they were tested negative. That is a big relief. We are also monitoring health of some town residents who have fever,” he said.

Asking the residents not to panic, the CDMO said: “Aedes mosquitoes can be found in any town. Merely finding them doesn’t mean that there are dengue patients in the town. It has to be found out whether the mosquitoes carry the dengue virus and whether dengue affected persons are there in the town. We are finding it out.”

Stressing on the awareness among all sections of people on the killer disease, Dr Kindo said.

“The best way to tackle dengue is to create awareness on the disease. I had been to a technical education institute today to educate the students on the disease. They will take part in a rally on Sunday to create awareness among the residents. I want to involve the students who will take part in the awareness campaign.”

The CDMO said he had also held discussion with the executive officer of the municipality to expedite the sanitation work in the town.

To ensure that Dengue does not spread in the town, the health department here is monitoring the health condition of some town residents, who have fever and shown symptoms of the disease.

Meanwhile, a team of entomologists from the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR) field station in Rourkela traced the Aedes mosquitoes that carry the Dengue virus to an abandoned tank near the Government Women’s College here yesterday.

The team collected the samples of mosquito and its larvae for conducting test in the laboratory in Rourkela. The killer mosquitoes were found near the residence of Dipti Prakash Ray who died of Dengue at Rourkela on Monday.

AK Upadhyaya, a research scientist with the NIMR said that they would conduct test of the samples in the Rourkela laboratory to ascertain whether the mosquitoes carried the Dengue virus. “Right now we can’t say anything. We have found the mosquitoes here. We are taking the sample with us for test in the laboratory. After the test we can only say whether it carries the Dengue virus or not”, Upadhyaya said.

The district administration, in the meanwhile, has geared up to tackle the outbreak of Dengue by organizing a series of awareness programmes on the disease. Chief district medical officer, Dr Bikrant Kindo has held discussion with the district collector Salendra Narayan Dey and the members of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) from Bhubaneswar who are here to find ways to tackle the disease.

CDMO Dr Bikrant Kindo told The Telegraph that he had taken steps to prevent the spread of vector-borne disease in Balangir. “We took the blood samples of the family members of the deceased. But they were tested negative. That is a big relief. We are also monitoring health of some town residents who have fever”, he said.

Asking the residents nt to panic, the CDMO said merely finding the Aedes mosquitoes did not mean that there were Dengue cases in the town. “The Aedes mosquitoes can be found in any town. Merely finding them doesn’t mean that there are Dengue patients in the town. It has to be found out whether the mosquitoes carry the Dengue virus and whether Dengue affected persons are there in the town. We are finding it out”, he said.

Stressing on the awareness among all sections of people on the killer disease, Dr Kindo said. “The best way to tackle the disease is to create awareness on the disease. I had been to a technical education institute today to educate the students on the disease. They will take part in a rally on Sunday to create awareness among the town residents. I want to involve the students who will take part in the awareness campaign.'

The CDMO said he had also held discussion with the executive officer of the municipality to expedite the sanitation work in the town.