Dengue outbreak in Lahad Datu

Star: KOTA KINABALU: There is a dengue outbreak in Lahad Datu in the east coast and one of the two people known to have been infected, has died.
In announcing the outbreak, State Health Department director Datuk Dr Rahimah Mohd Said said that the two cases were reported over the last two weeks in the Taman Warisan area in the Lahad Datu district.
“The death was due to the patient seeking treatment at a late stage,” she said in a statement issued late Wednesday.
However, she said the situation was under control. Her department had set up an operations room and was carrying out fogging exercises and destroying aedes mosquito breeding spots. It was also carrying out public health education activities.
“Efforts are underway to control the situation in the affected area, we need cooperation from the public and community to avoid future dengue outbreaks in Lahad Datu,” she said.
The public was advised to take steps to destroy unused items that could hold water as these were breeding grounds for the aedes mosquito responsible for spreading dengue.
She urged the public to seek immediate treatment if they had symptoms of dengue, particularly high fever.
Dr Rahimh said that prior to the recent outbreak, there was a dengue case reported from Taman Warisan in February this year.