Via The Express Tribune, a report datelined Lahore: Dengue campaign: 23 teams set up to check factories for larvae. Excerpt:
Twenty-three teams have been set up to check that factories in the city are clear of breeding sites for dengue mosquito larvae and to make sure that equipment needed to combat any dengue emergency is available, said Dengue Response Committee Chairman Haji Allah Rakha, an MPA, on Saturday.
Addressing a meeting in connection with dengue control at the Cantonment courts, Allah Rakha said that the teams would do their work between October 6 and 10, according to a press release. He said that factories must arrange for fire-fighting equipment, alarms and emergency exits within three days, if they did not have them already, or face legal action.
The MPA said that besides taking preventive measures to reduce the population of the dengue mosquito, the government was trying to raise public awareness of the disease. He said that the general population knew far more about the disease this year than last and as a result, this year’s dengue outbreak had been a lot less severe than last year’s.
Officers of the departments concerned briefed the meeting on various anti-dengue efforts. They said that water bodies in the city had been dried or stocked with larvae-eating fish to prevent mosquito breeding.
Dr Nauman of the Health Department told the Response Committee that dengue mosquito larvae had been found at 39 places in the last three days including five open sites in residential areas. He said that because water bodies had been dried up, the dengue mosquito was looking for breeding sites within houses.
He said that the next 15 days would be crucial. He said the public must follow the advice of experts in not leaving any standing water in their properties to deprive the mosquito of places to breed.
