Large-Scale Anti-Dengue Ops Begins Saturday

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 (Bernama) -- A large-scale anti-dengue operation will begin on Oct 1 with the focus on Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor which have registered a big number of dengue fever cases in recent weeks.
Health teams will also be brought in from the less-affected states of Kedah, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan to join the operation in the four states, said Dr Marzukhi Md Isa, Deputy Director of Disease Control, Division of Disease Control in the Health Ministry.
"Selangor and Kuala Lumpur always record the highest number of cases per week, exceeding 100 cases," he said. For the week ending Sept 17, Selangor registered 184 cases and Kuala Lumpur 116. For the week ending Sept 24, Penang had 154 cases and Johor 97.
"In the operation, larvicidal Bti (bacillus thuringiensis israeliensis) will be used to destroy larvae (of the Aedes mosquito, carrier of the dengue virus) in breeding grounds inaccessible to the teams," he said.
Dr Marzukhi said Selangor registered the highest number of 9,497 cases or 35.4 per cent of the accumulated number of cases with Kuala Lumpur next (4,188 or 15.6 per cent) and Penang third (1,749 or 6.5 per cent).
For the week ending Sept 17, the highest number of cases among districts was registered in Penang's Barat Daya District (77).
Dr Marzukhi said that a team of 24 health personnel from Terengganu and two teams from Pahang had begun an anti-dengue operation in the Johor Baharu District, Monday.
He said the ministry appealed to the people to extend their co-operation to health personnel or local authority personnel carrying out anti-dengue activities in their areas.
He also said that more frequent checks would be undertaken in places where a big number of cases had been registered, and enforcement would be intensified in housing estates, abandoned projects, shophouses, factories and idle land.
In TAIPING, Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said Monday schools considered to be at high risk of a dengue epidemic should be closed down immediately.
He said the state education department and the schools concerned could direct the schools to close to prevent the disease from spreading to more students.
"We know of schools in the high-risk category and are monitoring them with the local authorities and the Health Ministry," he told reporters after a meeting with the Perak Umno Youth.
Hishammuddin, who is Umno Youth Chief, said he had also instructed Umno Youth in the states to carry out anti-dengue campaigns and programmes in high-risk areas.