Dengue outbreak: Centre rushes teams to nine affected states, UTs

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday deputed central teams of experts in nine states and Union Territories to help them in managing dengue outbreak.

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The move came amid Haryana, Punjab, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir recording a considerable number of dengue cases.

Expert teams include officials from the National Centre for Disease Control and National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme. "It has been decided by the competent authority to depute central teams to the identified states to assist the state governments by providing technical guidance, including public health measures, for managing the ongoing outbreak of dengue," an office memorandum sent to principal secretaries (Health) and directors general of health services of the nine states and Union Territories.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday had directed the Union Health Secretary to identify and send teams of experts to states with a high active caseload of dengue as he reviewed the dengue situation in Delhi for control and management of the disease.

Over 1,530 cases of dengue have been reported in Delhi this year so far, of which nearly 1,200 were recorded in October alone, the highest count for the month in the last four years.

Dengue is spread through the bites of infected Aedes mosquitoes. Once contracted, the infection leads to fever, body ache, nausea, vomiting, and in severe cases, internal bleeding or a fatal drop in blood pressure.