Mauritius: Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Jagutpal was present at the launch of vector control activities. The event was hosted on Friday at the Les Salines.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness has teamed up with several other stakeholders of the country to fight dengue. They are conducting fogging, larviciding and other vector control activities in dengue hotspot regions.
The Ministry of Health claimed that despite the efforts it is important for the population to clean their surroundings and eliminate potential mosquito breeding places.
The Director General Health Services, Dr Bhooshun Ori, as well as officers from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, the Special Mobile Force and the Special Support Unit were also present at the launch event.
Dr Jagutpal informed us that there is, at present, an estimated 600 active dengue fever cases. The infection is spread across the island but concentrated in Port Louis and the northern regions.
He talked about the unpredictability of weather conditions, specifically high precipitation and humidity. He claimed that these conditions contribute to the increasing likelihood of more water accumulation.
Thus, the situation can lead to exacerbating the dengue situation in the country.
The Health Minister, Kailesh Kumar Jamoreover, indicated that rapid and PCR tests are done in health centers and hospitals to detect dengue cases. Currently, some 84 people are hospitalised and others are receiving home visits from doctors of the Domiciliary Monitoring Unit
The Vector Biology and Control Unit, he affirmed, is also playing a pivotal role in conducting scientific studies to examine the density of mosquitoes, allowing for the devising of effective strategies to counter the proliferation of dengue.
The Minister said that the celebration of festivals including Maha Shivratree, National Day Celebrations and Eid al-Fitr will necessitate more and regular vector control activities. As such, large fogging and larviciding teams of 100 officers, and some 10 to 15 teams comprising of 25 officers will be mobilized to cover the entire country, he underscored.
Meanwhile, Dr Ori shared that a master plan for vector control (dengue fever) in hotspot areas with more than 25 cases is in the pipeline.
Besides Les Salines, mass fogging and larviciding were also conducted at other hotspot regions, namely Cassis, Résidence Vallijee and Bain des Dames today. It is recalled that as at date, some 7 009 fogging, 5 258 larviciding and 356 mist blowing activities have been undertaken.