Uttarkhand govt allays fear of dengue outbreak

The Uttarkhand government today said steps are being taken to combat spread of dengue in the state, which has claimed three lives so far, and all the patients admitted to hospitals are out of danger.
The government said that a total of 352 dengue cases were reported this year in Uttarakhand, out of which three succumbed to the disease in Haridwar district recently.
State Health Minister Surendra Singh Negi said Haridwar has reported the maximum 250 cases while 22 were reported from Dehradun.
Dengue patients admitted to different hospitals across the state are being treated and all of them are out of danger, the minister said.

The minister attributed the high incidence of dengue cases in Haridwar to the mid-June flashfloods.
Negi said that due to the calamity less number of tourists visited Haridwar and hotels did not carry out regular cleaning of coolers, which became breeding sources for the mosquitoes.

"Regular cleaning of coolers and other potential breeding grounds of mosquitoes was not done at the hotels in Haridwar and that may be a reason for the high incidence of the disease in the district," he said.
Hoteliers have been asked to ensure regular cleaning of coolers and locals are asked to maintain cleanliness as a precautionary measure, he said.

All the departments concerned have been asked to prepare a roadmap on how to deal with the disease and directed to submit a copy of it to the state health department, he said.