Dengue, chikungunya cases rise to 955 in Jharkhand

At least 955 cases of dengue and chikungunya have been reported in Jharkhand till Thursday, a health official said. So far, 7,356 people with symptoms of both the diseases have been tested, the official said.

''Out of 7,356 people examined, 732 have tested positive for dengue, while 223 are down with chikungunya,'' state project officer of vector-borne diseases Dr Birendra Kumar Singh told PTI.

The health department has deputed around 350 health officials who are visiting houses in urban areas to destroy mosquito breeding sites, an official release said.

The department has a total of 42 fogging machines and 240 anti-larva medicine spray machines, the statement added.

The state had recently asked the Centre to provide 30 lakh medicated mosquito nets for kala-azar affected districts. Responding to its request, the Centre has informed the health department that it would provide the nets in two phases. In the first phase, around 15.84 lakh medicated mosquito nets will be provided and another 62.84 lakh will be given in the second phase by December, it stated.