ISLAMABAD: A surge in the number of dengue fever cases has been reported in parts of Pakistan over the past 24 hours amid fears that the nation might face an outbreak of the disease in the coming days, health authorities said.
A total of 90 new cases of dengue fever — which is spread by mosquitoes that can only survive in warm temperatures — have been reported across Punjab over the past 24 hours, said the provincial health department, adding that most of the cases were recorded in Lahore.
The total tally of dengue fever cases this year has surged to 1,082 in the province, said the health department.
Similarly, more than 800 dengue fever cases were detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the last month as the province added several new cases over the last 24 hours, said the KP health department.
Keeping in view of the alarming spike in dengue fever cases, the provincial health department in collaboration with the district administrations has begun fumigation and an awareness campaign in the province.
Meanwhile, 32 more people were infected with the dengue virus in Islamabad in the past 24 hours, pushing the tally of the cases in the city to 177 this year, Islamabad District Health Officer Zaeem Zia told local media.
According to government officials, despite various challenges posed by Covid-19, the government has been making all-out efforts and taking adequate measures to stem the further spread of the dengue virus.
Only nine countries faced severe dengue outbreaks in 1970. But the disease is now seen in more than 100 countries. There are thought to be 390 million infections each year.
In 2011, a major outbreak of dengue fever — potentially lethal disease spread by mosquito bites — infected 20,000 and killed more than 300 people.
Subsequently, in 2019, rising temperatures across Asia and the Americas contributed to multiple severe outbreaks of dengue fever globally, making it the worst year on record for the disease.
Other Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, also had outbreaks, with a particularly severe situation in the Philippines, where 1,000 people died of the disease, including hundreds of children, in 2019.
