BHUBANESWAR: With the industrial belt of Angul district under the grip of a suspected dengue outbreak, the State Government has gone into the damage control mode.A team of experts from the Malaria and Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme led by Joint Director (Filaria) has been sent to the affected villages to ascertain the situation. About four or five villages, particularly Kamalchuin, have reported cases of dengue. While officially, two cases from Kamalchuin village have been confirmed, unofficial sources put the cases at more than 20 in the last 10 days.The team would collect blood samples as well as scour the potential breeding sites in the region to identify the vectors. Insect samples would also be collected and brought back for testing. The district health administration has also been alerted to intensify prevention measures, MVBD Director MM Pradhan said.According to reports, the incidence of dengue has been more prominent in the last fortnight with people, mostly those working in the industrial units in the region, being afflicted. There have been no casualties yet, though.The referral centre for them, Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar, on Tuesday stated that they had received about 18 cases in 10 days which have been confirmed to be dengue. Most of them are from the Angul district, spokesperson Rakesh Ray said.The Health Department has attributed the increase in dengue cases to flow of people from the disease-prone parts of the country, Delhi and North Central region, to the industrial hub in recent times. Due to rise in industrial activities, the inflow of people has shot up. There could be carriers in them which the vectors Aedes Aegypti have taken in and transmitted, sources said. “The industries are good breeding areas for mosquitoes due to the pools of water, and waste disposal sites. We have apprised the district collector of the situation and asked him to press the industries to undertake appropriate control measures,” Pradhan said.
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