MELAKA: The state Health Department will release mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia in more areas, especially in Melaka Tengah, in stages in an effort to reduce dengue cases.
Its director Datuk Dr Rusdi Abd Rahman said among the areas were Kota Laksamana, Sungai Udang and Bukit Baru, but it depends on the ability of various parties to breed the insects.
“If we can breed two to three million Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes a week, maybe this project can be expanded to more dengue hotspots. But so far, we are only able to breed around 50,000 of those mosquitoes a week because we depend on many parties, including the Institute for Medical Research (IMR), to produce the mosquito eggs,” he told Bernama yesterday.
He said although no deaths were recorded due to dengue in the state during the 39th Epidemiological Week that ended on Sept 30, dengue cases recorded an increase of 96.61% to 869 cases compared with 442 cases in the same period last year.
As of Sept 30, he said the department inspected 67,344 premises in the state and found 7,793 breeding grounds for the Aedes mosquito.
