Dengue cases in Sarawak alarming but under control

The dengue situation in Sarawak is alarming as the number of cases recorded in the first 10 months of this year increased by 60.2 per cent from the figure over the same period last year.

State Local Government and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh said today that between Jan 1 and Nov 1 this year, 1,762 cases were reported throughout the state compared to 1,100 cases recorded over the corresponding period in 2013.

However, the situation was still under control, he said when winding up the budget debate for his ministry at the state assembly sitting, here.

According to him, Sibu district was the worst affected by dengue fever with 775 cases recorded while Lawas, Sarawak's northernmost district, had the least cases at 10 recorded during the period.

"The average number of weekly reported cases in 2014 is 40, which is above the usual baseline for the disease in Sarawak," he said.

Wong said intensive campaign to control dengue was on-going at all the affected localities and the activities included disease surveillance, search and destroy operations, fogging and mosquito larviciding.

He said 220,067 premises had been fogged with insecticide with RM10,000 worth of compounds imposed and 55 warning notices issued to house owners found to be breeding grounds for the Aedes mosquito that spread dengue.

Malaria, another mosquito-borne disease, was also on the increase in the state, with 1,099 cases reported from the beginning of the year until Oct 25, compared to 786 cases over the corresponding period last year, he said.