Mumbai: As the city continues to reel under dengue onslaught, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) insecticide department has been detecting over 900 breeding spots of aedes mosquitoes per day for the last two months. The aedes aegypti mosquitoes are responsible for spreading dengue, chikungunya and zika.
“Since the start of the monsoon season, we have been seeing a rising number of dengue cases. As a part of the vector control programme, we have been working closely with the BMC’s health department. Wherever a case is detected, we send our team to find breeding spots. In a day, our team is detecting on average 900 breeding spots of aedes mosquitoes,” said an official from the insecticide department.
In September alone, the insecticide department inspected more than 10 lakh houses and found 13,698 aedes mosquito breeding spots. Close to 15,231 aedes mosquito spots were found in Augustand 13,319 in July.
Once found, samples from aedes breeding spot are sent to the laboratory where the technician finds the type of aedes mosquito. The officer said the insecticide team has been working even on weekends with the rise in dengue cases.
“There are three types of aedes mosquitoes found in Mumbai. Aedes aegypti is the mosquito of concern as it spreads dengue, chikungunya and zika fever. We have been overwhelmed with the number of aedes breeding spots found this year every day,” said the official.
With the recent downpour in the city, the health department has been cautioned that the dengue numbers are going to rise further in coming days. BMC has now sought help of citizens as most of these breeding spots are indoors and in surrounding areas in housing societies.
“We have an app-Mumbai against dengue- where we are requesting citizens to get enrolled. They should search for breeding spots and inform us. Citizen participation is the most important link to controlling the dengue menace as most of the breeding happens around houses, around workplaces. With the intermittent rains in the city, we need to be more vigilant,” said Dr Daksha Shah, executive health officer, BMC.
Doctors are already witnessing more cases. Mumbai recorded 1031 dengue cases in September, the highest in the last three months. The city reported 353 dengue cases in June, 685 in July and 999 in August. As per the BMC health report, the city is also seeing an upward trend in Malaria cases. While the city reported 676 malaria cases in Jun, Mumbai saw 721 malaria cases in July, 1080 in August and 1068 in September. Apart from dengue, and malaria, the city has been under the grip of viral fever.
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