Fresh Spell of Rains in Kolkata Stoke Fears of Dengue Epidemic, Other Mosquito-borne Diseases

Kolkata has witnessed rain showers last week raising fear of spreading of mosquito-borne diseases including dengue, malaria, chikungunya, zika virus, Yellow fever among others. The city has reported at least 1,500 cases of Dengue so far. The vector-borne disease has also claimed lives of 5 people in the Calcutta municipal area.

According to a report by The Telegraph, a public health professional said that the only way to prevent the outbreak of dengue in the metro city is to destroy breeding sites of mosquitoes.

Spread by Aedes aegypti, dengue mosquitoes breed in stagnant water. These mosquitoes bite during early morning and in the evening before dusk.

The recent spell of rains has created puddles that are favourable for dengue spreading mosquitoes to breed in. The daily further said that the officials of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) has asked workers at the grassroots level to check for water storage in small containers lying on streets.

The report quoted Debashis Biswas, the chief vector control officer of the CMC, saying that Kolkata received more rain in October as compared to the same month last year. He further said that rain last week was not intense and water accumulates in small containers such as discarded tea cups and small glasses after this kind of rain.

Biswas further said that incessant rain often washes away Aedes eggs but drizzles do not have the force to do so. Few spell on rain showers just led to creation of small pools of water that are ideal for the breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

As per the data with the CMC, Kolkata received 150 mm of rain till October 26. During the same period last year, the figure was 52.8mm.

The officials of CMC said that they have kept their health clinics open in all wards since October 1.

The daily further mentioned a CMC doctor saying that field-level workers and doctors had worked without a day’s break in the month of October. The doctor further said that as the monsoon receded late this year, they thought of keeping the clinics open on all days.

Another municipal corporation official said garbage accumulated anywhere should be cleaned to destroy potential breeding sites of disease spreading mosquitoes.