(COLOMBO) – A dengue scare has hit Sri Lanka with some 6,000 infections reported from the start of this year alone, the National Dengue Control Unit (NDCU) said on Tuesday.
Accordingly, 5,829 dengue cases have been reported across the island as of January 15, 2024, the NDCU said
The highest figures have been reported in the Western Province (33.6 percent), whilst 1,228 cases have been reported in the Colombo District alone. The total number of dengue patients reported in the Western Province is 1,956.
Another 1,177 dengue cases were also reported in the Jaffna District during the period of the first 15 days of 2024, according to the NDCU.
Last year, a total of 87,078 dengue cases were reported in Sri Lanka with 57 fatalities, according to the NDCU.
In the meantime, efforts are underway to control the spread of dengue across the country through the implementation of diverse programs, it said.
In the first week of January a decision was reached along with President Ranil Wickremesinghe to establish an operational unit directly supervised by the Ministry of Health to combat the spread of dengue.
The objective of the unit is to create a reporting system for ongoing dengue control programs, tracking daily progress in the province and outlining future measures.
