DENGUE FEVER

The Asian Tiger mosquito is generally associated with the spread of dengue fever; biting around the ankles and knees close to the ground in the daytime, rarely at night. Any source of stagnant water such as in the automobile tires, open containers, trash cans, holes in the tree trunks, broken vases, which gather rainwater, are an excellent breeding place for the tiger mosquito. The situation in Pakistan has deteriorated over the past years; solid steps are needed to bring hygiene conditions an integral part of our life styles. Vectors are breeding every where and so are the microorganisms. The entire picture is ultimately leading to the worst imaginable situation, where this year dengue, and in the years to come other dipterous related diseases will be there to welcome us. There is a dire need to make short and long term planning by including our environment as the major concerns of the future issues. Our research team, at the Department of Agro-entomology, has initiated work in this direction and we will be developing strategies to forecast the out breaks of mosquitoes and onset of disease. These steps will help in better management of mosquitoes through the development of potent plant extracts.