Rawalpindi All types of surveillance activities including fogging being carried out by the teams of district health department to avoid dengue fever outbreak in the district would continue during Eid holidays, from Friday to Tuesday. The district health department has not allowed its staff members having responsibilities related to prevention and control of dengue fever to avail Eid holidays, however, the staff members would work in rotation to continue surveillance activities from Friday to Tuesday, said District Health Officer Dr. Rafiq Ahmed while talking to ‘The News’. He added that the surveillance activities to avoid dengue fever outbreak are being carried out in all seven tehsils of the district including Taxila, Gujar Khan, Kahuta, Kallar Syedan, Kotli Satyan, Murree and Rawalpindi while the surveillance has been further strengthened in Rawal Town, Potohar Town and in areas falling under jurisdiction of cantonment boards. Under the on-going surveillance plan to avoid dengue fever outbreak, identification and elimination of larvae of ‘aedes aegypti’, the vector that causes dengue fever is in progress through a door-to-door campaign and all these activities would continue on Eid holidays, he added. He said the district health department has prepared duty rosters for the staff working on surveillance against dengue fever and only a few staff members belonging to far-flung areas of the province have been allowed to avail holidays on first and second day of Eid. He said senior level staff members including deputy district health officers and other supervisory staff including himself and the Executive District Officer (Health) would monitor the working of dengue fever surveillance teams in the field during Eid holidays and would pay surprise visits to areas in which surveillance activities are being carried out. The peak season for growth of larvae of ‘aedes aegypti’ has set in and the district health department cannot take any risk at the time, he said while responding to a query. He added the teams of district health department are working in the field as per routine.
