The health department has alarmed civil surgeons of all 24 districts of Jharkhand that the cases of vector borne diseases namely dengue and chikungunya may rise in Jharkhand after heavy downpour caused by cyclone Yaas.

In a letter issued to civil surgeons; the additional chief secretary cum secretary of health department Arun Kumar Singh has asked civil surgeons to form a taskforce to prevent cases of dengue and chikungunya.

The department has cautioned that the government machinery and health infrastructure of Jharkhand is already grappling with Covid 19 pandemic hence in a situation like this the spread of vector borne diseases  will further worsen the situation.

From the past couple of years Jharkhand has been witnessing cases of dengue and chikungunya at large scale and even the cases of death too have been reported.

“Jharkhand has witnessed heavy rain due to the cyclonic effect. Mosquito breed larvae in standing water. So it is necessary to carry out larval surveillance to destroy larvae. Larval surveillance is necessary for elimination of mosquitoes before they become adults. So we have directed district administration, municipal corporations and local bodies to create a taskforce for door to door survey to destroy the source of larvae breeding. Besides, instructions have been given to spray anti-larvae pesticides like Temephos, diflubenzuron and BTI at drainages and standing water,” an official of the health department said.

 The department has directed to hire community volunteers for larval surveillance on a daily payment basis for the next 100 days to carry out surveys. The state health department plans to hire a total of 127 trained community volunteers for 24 districts on payment of Rs 300 (approx) per day. The department plans to carry out a survey cum prevention drive latest by June 15 and all districts and local bodies have been asked to submit vector surveillance, including larval surveillance work plan by June 10. Besides, it has also asked local administration to depute staff for assisting community volunteers in larval surveillance and density assessment. The survey will be carried out in urban areas only that approximately covers 1.38 crore population.  

Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Giridih, Gumla, Pakur and Sahebganj are some of the districts prone to vector borne diseases.

In 2019, Ranchi had witnessed 177 dengue cases, Jamshedpur 67 followed by Dhanbad 47. In 2018, the situation became quite grim in Ranchi when 27 cases of dengue and 398 cases of chikungunya were reported.