Larvae of dengue fever vector not found in Islamabad

Islamabad : The teams of Health department Islamabad have started carrying out surveillance activities in the field to avoid a possible spread of dengue fever in the coming months however, larvae of ‘aedes aegypti’, the vector that causes dengue fever have not been found anywhere in the federal capital so far.

Talking to ‘The News’ on Thursday, District Health Officer Islamabad Dr. Muhammad Najeeb Durrani said the teams of health department have been working extensively in the field and so far larvae of ‘aedes’ mosquitoes have not been found anywhere though the teams have found larvae of anopheles mosquitoes, the vector that causes malaria in abundance.

He added the teams started activities in the field last week but for the last four days, the health department has put all its available resources on surveillance campaign against dengue fever as it is time for capacity building of the teams working for surveillance against dengue fever and the health department is working on it.

To date, the federal capital is protected against dengue fever as larvae of dengue fever vector have not been found from anywhere in rural areas in Islamabad, he said.

He added the health department has already launched awareness campaign in almost all union councils in rural areas of the federal capital to educate public on elimination of possible breeding sites of mosquitoes to avoid dengue fever.

Giving details, he said lady health workers have been deployed for indoor surveillance in rural areas of the federal capital as they are working on larvae identification and elimination inside homes.

Dengue staff comprising male members available at the health department has been working on outdoor surveillance and treating hotspots to avoid breeding of mosquitoes, he said. He added the health department has already marked almost all possible breeding sites for mosquitoes in rural areas and is continuously examining the sites to check breeding of dengue fever vector.

Teams comprising sanitary inspectors, malaria inspectors and sanitary patrols are treating the listed hot spots with temiphos granules to avoid breeding of dengue fever vector, he said.

Dr. Durrani said the health department has focused its efforts in Village Jabbi located along Tamma Road opposite to Comsat University as the village has countless hotspots that may help in breeding of mosquitoes. Our teams have been working in the area for both indoor and outdoor surveillance against dengue fever, he said.