GUWAHATI, Oct 13 - The automobile repairing centres across the city have become the main source of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry the dengue virus.
It came to light during a drive carried out by the State Health Department to eliminate the sources of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the city.
The entomologists of the department told The Assam Tribune that during the drive it came to light that spare tyres dumped in and around every automobile repairing centres are the most suitable breeding grounds for Aedes.
�During our ground investigation, the highest number of Aedes mosquito larvae was found in stagnant water inside discarded tyres. Usually, such tyres remain at the same place for several days, which ultimately becomes a breeding place for mosquitoes,� an entomologist said.
In Assam, already more than 100 dengue positive cases have been reported and Kamrup Metro tops the list with 42 cases, officials said.
The entomologist said during the drive, the Health department teams found the highest number of larvae of Aedes mosquito at Lalganesh, Bhaskar Nagar and Bamunimaidam Railway Colony.
Till September, the teams carried out the drive in more than 46,000 households in the city and over 300 of these households were found to have sources of the mosquito.
During the drive, the Health department staff searched cement tanks, earthen pots, tin and plastic containers, tyres, coolers, refrigerators, flower vases, coconut shells, glass containers, etc.
There is no specific treatment to cure dengue, and therefore, the Health department is primarily focusing on reducing the sources of Aedes mosquito to prevent the disease from spreading further during the prevalence period.
The department stated that treatment of dengue is done based on the signs and symptoms shown by a patient.
As a part of the drive, teams of the department have also been carrying out door-to-door awareness campaigns across the State. The teams are also trying to detect all possible sources of Aedes.
�As the first step, our staff have been trying to find out all possible sources of the mosquito in the premises of both private and public entities during the door-to-door campaign. In the next step, we will take necessary measures to destroy the sources of the mosquito detected during the door-to-door campaign,� a senior official said.
