JOHOR BARU: The number of dengue cases recorded in Johor during the 16th epidemiological week (ME16) this year saw a slight drop from the previous week.
State health and unity committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said a total of 152 cases were reported during ME16, from April 16 to 22.
"The number of cases during ME16 dropped by 2.5% compared to ME15 where a total of 156 cases were reported.
"Johor Baru reported the most cases at 111, followed by Kulai (13) and Kluang (six). Muar, Kota Tinggi and Batu Pahat each recorded five cases while Segamat, Pontian and Tangkak recorded two cases each. One case was also reported in Mersing," he said in a statement on Tuesday (April 25).
He added that the cumulative number of cases as of ME16 is significantly higher compared to the same period last year.
"The number of cases as of ME16 this year stands at 2,381, an increase of 462% compared to the same period last year where only 424 cases were recorded.
"Two deaths were also reported up to ME16 this year compared to no fatalities during the same period last year," he said.
He also said more than 2,000 compound notices have been issued this year to premises statewide found to be breeding Aedes mosquitoes.
He said the discovery of Aedes breeding grounds showed that there was still a lack of awareness among the public on dengue fever.
"Enforcement officers from the Health Department have issued a total of 2,132 compound notices amounting to RM1.017mil to premises found to be breeding Aedes mosquitoes.
"Of that number, about 48.8% have paid the compounds. We urge the public to take 10 minutes of their time each day to search for and destroy Aedes breeding grounds around their homes and workplaces," he said.
On a separate matter, Ling said statistics showed Johor did not record a drastic increase in Covid-19 cases in recent months and hospital bed usage was still under 5.0%.
He said that as of Saturday (April 22), Johor has reported a total of 353 Covid-19 cases due to the XBB subvariant.
"Malaysia has recorded several Covid-19 Omicron subvariants, which are BA.5.2 and BF.7.
"In Johor, we have detected a total of 476 cases of the BA.5.2 subvariant between May 29 last year and April 22 this year.
"However, we have yet to detect any subvariant BF.7 so far," he said.
