BERHAMPUR: With two more persons testing positive for dengue, the total number of those suffering from the disease in Ganjam district has gone up to 74 this year.
Health officials denied reports that a person died of dengue in Aska.
District Malaria Officer Dr R Jagdish Patnaik said six dengue positive cases have been detected in the district in the last 48 hours. He said the six had contracted the disease in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai.
Special wards have been made functional at MKCG Medical College and Hospital and City Hospital.
Sources in the district health office said of the 74 positive cases, only 26 are from Ganjam district. Since 2012, as many as 533 persons have been tested positive for the disease in the district.
Last year, 155 dengue positive cases were detected in the district.
Even as the disease keeps recurring, officials are yet to streamline the sanitation system in the district. Besides, little has been done to eliminate mosquitoes.
Most of the urban areas, including those under Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) and villages in the district, have turned into breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Two months back, when a few dengue positive cases were detected at MKCG Medical College and Hospital, the district Collector had stressed the need for spraying insecticides and clearing of stagnated water pits. But it did not yield the desired result.
It is alleged that BeMC and district health department have been blaming each other over controlling the mosquito menace.
Additional Health Officer of BeMC Dr Ranjit Kumar Patra said the civic body has not yet received any order to carry out fogging in the affected areas.
On the other hand, Chief District Health Officer Dr Bijay Panigrahi said the health department has been entrusted with the task of spraying anti-mosquito oil in rains.”Fogging in the wards is the duty of BeMC,” he said.