Mosquito-borne diseases continue to spread in India

Oct 11, 2006, 15:02 GMT

New Delhi - Health ministers from Indian states met in New Delhi on Wednesday to augment contingency plans dealing with the spread of the mosquito-borne dengue and chikungunya fever diseases that have claimed over 160 lives across the country, officials said.

Chikungunya has claimed more than 100 lives since July and 64 people have succumbed to dengue in the past six weeks.

Thousands of cases of dengue and chikungunya - viral fevers spread through the bite of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito - have been reported from 13 of India's 28 states and seven federally-administered territories.

Federal Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss chaired a meeting of health ministers from 10 affected states and discussed measures to step up preventive campaigns to check the spread of chikungunya and dengue.

Ramadoss said there were 1.3 million suspected chikungunya cases across India but denied any fatalities from the disease.

But the government of southern Kerala state has said chikungunya had claimed 95 lives so far and seven people have died from the disease in western Gujarat state, according to the PTI news agency.

Ramadoss claimed most of the deaths in Kerala were from other ailments such as 'TB, cancer or a cardiac problem.'

Indian capital New Delhi has been the worst-hit by dengue. Of the 64 deaths from the disease across India, nearly 23 deaths have been reported from the city.

In all, dengue has affected 3,803 people across the country with New Delhi accounting for over 1,110 cases.

Health officials told IANS news agency that said 72 new cases had been reported in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Symptoms of both chikungunya and dengue are high fever, rashes and joint pains. Extreme cases of dengue require blood transfusion.

Both diseases usually occur in India after the monsoon rains from June to September. Health officials said the diseases peak in October and warned that the worst may not be over yet.