More than 10,000 people have contracted dengue haemorrhagic fever in Myanmar so far this year, as health experts warn it could be a particularly deadly year for the virus.
The majority of cases have been in Mon state, where 2,182 people have fallen sick, followed by the Ayeyarwady region and then Yangon, state-run newspaper the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
A total of 40 patients have died.
“The outbreak of the mosquito-infected viral disease is on an annual increase despite preventive and control measures being taken on a nationwide scale,” Dr Khin Nan Lon, a project manager from the Health Ministry’s dengue unit was quoted as saying.
Last year, a total of 13,000 cases were reported nationwide, though there were more than 20,000 in 2013.
The virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes and causes fever, headaches and joint pain, is most prevalent from June to August.
Photo / Wikicommons
