82 chikungunya cases reported in Batang Padang district in Perak

IPOH, Nov 14  -- A total of 82 cases of the mosquito-borne viral infection chikungunya have been reported in Batang Padang district in Perak as of Nov 12.

In a statement, Perak health director Datuk Dr Ding Lay Ming said there were seven active outbreak localities of chikungunya in the district involving Chenderiang, Bidor and Batang Padang areas.

“They involved 52 cases detected in Kampung Baru Air Kuning while the rest are in Bidor town, Taman Tapah, Taman Tapah Baru, Kampung Baru Kampung Pahang, Taman Orkid and Taman Daya,” she said.

Dr Ding confirmed that no deaths have been reported (due to the chikungunya fever) in the localities.

She explained that inspections by the Health Department in all localities found that the high prevalence of Aedes breeding is the main cause of the outbreak.

“The mosquito breeding sites were found at illegal garbage dumps, empty lots and stagnant drains.

“From Sept 11 to Nov 12, a total of 342  Aedes mosquito breeding spots were found,” she said.

In this regard, Dr Ding said various efforts have been carried out to curb the spread of the outbreaks such as conducting inspections and destruction of breeding grounds, distributing brochures, applying thermal space fogging and ultra-low-volume spray.

She said the outbreak is expected to end by Nov 26.

Yesterday, the media reported that the state Health, Consumer Affairs, National Integration and Human Resources executive committee chairman, A. Sivanesan, said the chikungunya fever outbreak in Perak was classified as serious with 71 cases recorded in three districts since Oct 18.

Batang Padang district had the highest rate of infection with 44 people, followed by Larut Matang Selama in Pokok Assam Zone 2 with 16 cases and Kampar (11 cases).

-- BERNAMA