- ISLAMABAD: Lack of proper preventive measures resulted in the spread of dengue fever in Punjab, sources said.
- Health experts say the illness is spreading across the province also because of poor hygiene conditions, and heavy monsoon rain provides ideal conditions for dengue-carrying mosquitoes to thrive in stagnant waters.
Authorities are struggling to contain dengue fever which has killed at least eight people, officials said on Wednesday.
Around 4,400 cases of the mosquito-borne disease have been reported in the central Punjab province over the past two months, forcing the provincial government on Tuesday to close down schools for 10 days.
Most of the cases have been reported in Lahore, the provincial capital, where about 2,950 people tested positive.
"So far, eight people have died of dengue. We are trying our best to control this epidemic," Jehanzeb Khan, secretary of the provincial Health Department, said.
He added that lack of fumigation by plant protection department of the Ministry of Health and Agriculture also added to the spread of dengue in Punjab. Now the government had launched a fumigation drive to kill mosquitoes.
The government has been criticized by the media for dragging its feet on the dengue issue.
"The response to dengue has been ad hoc, ex post, and therefore reactionary at best," The News daily said in its editorial.
