Palu braces for dengue outbreak

PALU, Central Sulawesi: The Palu municipal health agency is on alert for the start of what could be the worst dengue fever outbreak since 1998, when 16 people were killed by the disease.

Agency chief Abdullah said that with the land on which the city was built having a surface declivity of 15 degrees, the city was mostly free of waterlogged areas, the favorite breeding places of the aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the disease.

But the lack of awareness of good sanitation among local people had made the city one of the most susceptible areas to dengue fever in the country, Abdullah said.

The last dengue outbreak here five years ago affected 470 people, 16 of whom died. In 2001, the disease left two people dead and 70 others hospitalized.

He said he could order fumigation to prevent dengue fever, but such a move would be insufficient without the full participation of the public.

He suggested that local media place or broadcast public information announcements to heighten people's awareness of dengue fever. -- Antara