Dengue Stalks Cuttack: Some Patients Have Bhubaneswar Link, Says CMC Official

“Contact tracing of all the infected persons have been done.  It has been found that some of the patients have Bhubaneswar link,” said Satyabrata Mohapatra, Health Officer of Cuttack Municipal Corporation.

“A special ward has been set up at the SCB Medical College and Hospital for the treatment of dengue patients,” he added.

The district is no stranger to dengue. According to sources, over 4,800 cases of the vector-borne disease and seven deaths have been reported in the district in the last five years.

The rise in dengue cases could be attributed to the unhygienic and unsanitary conditions prevailing in the localities facilitating breeding of Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes. Garbage accumulation, bushes and waterlogging in the city are also major concerns which has not been addressed by the civic authorities so far.

Meanwhile, following the detection of several dengue cases from different parts of the city, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) intensified awareness drive and other exercises to fight the vector-borne disease.

“Surveillance has been intensified by BMC and doctors are visiting houses. Three free dengue testing centres have been set up in Bhubaneswar,” said a BMC official.

 Awareness teams of BMC are conducting door-to-door drives in various slum and apartment areas to make people aware about mosquito breeding places. Various preventive measures are being taken every day such as not preventing water to accumulate around houses, cleaning of drains, cutting bushes, pruning trees and spraying mosquito coil to keep the disease at bay,” said the official.

So far, as many as 614 dengue cases have been detected in the State including the highest number of 482 cases in Bhubaneswar.