JOHOR BARU: A total of 4,696 fines amounting to RM2.3mil have been issued by the Health Department to premises that have been found to have Aedes mosquito breeding grounds.
Johor health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon (pic) said that the fines were issued from January until Sept 28 this year, with only 66% having been paid.
“Health authorities have continued their efforts to destroy Aedes mosquito breeding sites both inside and outside homes.
“However, inspections have revealed that many breeding grounds and high-risk areas are still being found inside homes.
“This means that there is still a lack of public awareness regarding the importance of cleaning and eliminating potential mosquito breeding spots,” he said in a statement here on Monday (Sept 30).
Ling added that the public is urged to spend at least 10 minutes conducting "search and destroy" activities at home and in workplaces to ensure there are no water containers or areas that could serve as breeding grounds for Aedes mosquitoes.
He added that the number of dengue cases in Johor has increased to 11,145 cases up until the 39th epidemiological week (ME39), an increase of 43.3% compared to the same period last year.
“Last year we only recorded 7,776 cases.
“Of the 11,145 cases, 4,662 case were in epidemic localities, and 6,483 were in non-epidemic localities,” he said.
The department have also recorded 163 cases during ME39 (Sept 22 to 28), a drop of 6.3% compared to the previous week of ME38 (Sept 15 to 21) with 174 cases.
Meanwhile, Ling added that the Health Department also recorded a total of 331 HIV cases as of ME39, with 140 of these classified as new infections.
This equates to a rate of 3.4 new HIV cases per 100,000 residents. In the latest week, four new cases were recorded — three from Johor Baru and one from Kulai.
Ling revealed that of the new cases, 3% involved individuals aged 15 to 19, while nearly half (49%) were among those aged 20 to 29.
“The majority of new HIV cases, 91%, involved men, with 88 cases (66%) linked to homosexual or bisexual contact, 44 cases (31%) to heterosexual contact, 1% to intravenous drug use and 3 cases (2%) had unknown transmission factors," he said.
Additionally, Johor has seen 164 reported AIDS cases in 2024, a decrease compared to 200 cases in the same period of 2023.
However, the number of AIDS-related deaths rose to 43, compared to 34 in 2023, while HIV-related deaths stood at 13, slightly down from 14 in the previous year.
Ling urged the public to remain vigilant in practising safe behaviours to prevent further infections.
