PETALING JAYA: A total of 5,506 compound notices were issued while 494 owners of premises were slapped with summonses by the Health Ministry for harbouring mosquito breeding places in their areas from January to February this year.It added the enforcement action was carried out in an integrated operation called Operasi Gempur Aedes, which was coordinated with various states on a monthly basis.
“The ministry conducts regular enforcement activities at the high-risk areas for dengue transmission and outbreak localities.
“All vector control activities including fogging are carried out by district health offices regularly at high-risk areas and outbreak localities,” the ministry said in a statement yesterday.
On the contributing factors of dengue cases, the ministry said prolonged rainy seasons alternating with hot weather provided abundant breeding places for Aedes mosquitoes.
It added Aedes mosquito emerges faster from the eggs and becomes more aggressive in biting and breeding behaviour.
“The frequent population movement from a dengue-prone area to a non-endemic dengue area will introduce the virus to a ‘dengue naive’ population.
“Poor environmental cleanliness with abundance of man-made containers provides suitable places for Aedes mosquitoes to breed.
“Community level solid waste management, especially disposal at non-designated areas, infrequent waste collection by concessionaires, and hoarding of recyclable items are among the contributors to the increasing number of breeding places and dengue cases,” the ministry said.
According to the iDengue site, a total of 29,143 dengue cases and 18 deaths have been recorded in the country from Jan 1 to April 3 this year.
At present, there are 2,936 active outbreaks localities and Selangor is leading with 14,933 cases.
This is followed by Sabah (2,916 cases), Kuala Lumpur (2,669), Penang (2,450), Johor (1,949) and Kedah (1,058).
On March 30, Health Department director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the rising cases of dengue is part of its cyclical trend and it is anticipated to peak this year.
Dengue trends follow a cyclical pattern with the dengue epidemic being reported every four to five years, he added.
In response, he said the Cabinet Committee to Combat Dengue was reactivated to address the rising number of dengue cases and outbreaks.
