Jamal, a grocery shop owner in the capital’s Badda area, has never before faced such a crisis. When his only child – a five-year old daughter – caught a fever around seven days ago, he did not think much of it. Then his wife became ill as well.
As their fever refused to subside even after a few days of medication, Jamal decided to have his wife and daughter undergo dengue test. Results for both of them came back positive. He quickly admitted the duo to Mugda Hospital in Dhaka.
The hospital is now overcrowded thanks to the onslaught of thousands of new cases every day. Jamal managed to secure a position for wife and child on the ward floor. He is now looking after his ill family at the hospital, and had not opened his grocery shop for a week.
Just like Jamal, dengue has made this situation a reality for thousands of others in the country. Under such a grim backdrop, the World Mosquito Day is being marked in Bangladesh, as elsewhere across the globe.
Commenting on the matter, renowned Medical Entomologist Prof Dr Kabirul Bashar said, “The World Mosquito Day is not observed in the country with much importance. The government can utilise this day to raise awareness among people about mosquito-borne diseases.
“There are more than 3,500 species of mosquitoes in the world. Of them, the researchers have found 126 species of mosquitoes in Bangladesh. Fourteen of which are found in Dhaka. However, only seven types of species bite people.”
He continued, “Mosquito-borne diseases cause enormous suffering to the people. Around 700 million people get infected with such illnesses globally every year, resulting in over one million deaths.
“Malaria, dengue fever, Chikungunya, yellow fever, filariasis, West Nile fever, and Zika are some of the most common mosquito-borne diseases. Bangladesh has become a suitable breeding ground for mosquitoes as a result of its hot and humid climate, unplanned urbanisation, flawed waste management system, and a lack of knowledge and awareness among people.”
Adding that thousands of people in Bangladesh get infected with mosquito-borne diseases every year, Dr Bashar says the country’s cost of mosquito control and mosquito-borne disease treatment exceeds a hundred billion taka annually.
It should be noted that the majority of mosquitos are not harmful. Many species are considered biological control agents as they help to keep insects under control, also pollinate flowers and serve as a food source for different birds.
What’s the situation now?
Bangladesh has been witnessing a severe uptick in mosquito-borne disease dengue, and death tolls have never been this high in the country’s history. In the 24 hours till Saturday, the country reported 13 more deaths and 1,983 fresh cases of dengue fever across the country.
For January to August 19, Bangladesh reported a staggering 466 dengue deaths and 97,860 infections, which far outpaces last year’s overall toll of 281 deaths, and 62,098 infections, show data from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Mosquito control costs going up
An outbreak of any mosquito-borne disease is usually triggered by unplanned and rapid urbanisation, dense human population, and unsanitary environments in both urban and rural regions, experts say.
They added that Bangladesh is now facing an unprecedented dengue outbreak due to the absence of an effective mechanism to check the population of dangerous mosquitos, and a lack of proper and timely monitoring by the city corporations.
Dr Bashar said, “Along with other sources of stagnant water, adult female mosquitoes lay eggs inside small containers with water. It is difficult to identify and remove this pest. So, proper monitoring is very important in this regard.
“City corporations and the Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives (LGRD) ministry must make integrated and sustainable plans to curb mosquito population. Besides, awareness must be created among the people, and unplanned urbanisation should be halted.”
Both the north and south city corporations of Dhaka have been elevating their mosquito control budget every year, insiders say. In the last FY, these city corporations spent Tk 128 crore on controlling mosquito population.
Of the figures, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) spent TK 101 crore, and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) spent Tk 27 crore.
Media reports show that the DSCC had spent Tk 32.75 crore on mosquito population control in FY20, Tk 20.2 crore in FY21, Tk 31.2 crore in FY22, and Tk 27 crore in FY23.
The DNCC spent Tk 70 crore in FY20, Tk 55.50 crore in FY21, Tk 59.85 crore in FT22 FY, and Tk 101 crore in FY23 for the same purpose.
On the matter, DSCC Chief Health Officer Dr Fazle Shamsul Kabir said, “We are busy controlling the population of aedes mosquitoes. We believe in practical steps. People have to be aware so that larvae of mosquitoes cannot lay eggs in containers with water.
“It is not possible to control the mosquito population only through spraying medicine. The DSCC sprays mosquito repellent using a fogger machine as well.”
However, when approached by The Business Post, DNCC’s Chief Health Officer Brig Gen AKM Shafiqur Rahman declined to make any comments on the issue.
Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Advisor Dr Mohammad Mushtuq Husain said, “Mosquitoes have spread across the country, but there is no proper initiative to control its copulation.
“Bangladesh is now facing a dangerous outbreak of dengue. The government should focus on tackling this mosquito-borne disease on an urgent basis, as many are affected, and many more could die in the coming days.”
He added, “Both the government and the public have neglected to acknowledge the severity of this outbreak. We should have worked together to tackle dengue, like we did for malaria years ago. Dengue is now spreading throughout Bangladesh because of negligence.
“Mosquitos can adapt to their surroundings to survive. So, we should monitor this pest and take proper and integrated initiatives to control its population. If we fail to do this, we could spend thousands of crores of taka to cull the mosquitos, but with no result at all.”
Mushtuq further said, “I learned that the DNCC had recently imported Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis (BTI) from Singapore through a private company as part of its initiative to tackle the dengue outbreak. But the BTI turned out to be substandard.
“Under the circumstances, the authorities should employ a three-pronged approach to handle the mosquito population – by keeping the environment clean, spray chemicals, and utilise the BTI. This will help bring the dengue outbreak under control.”
A little history
Bangladesh detected its first dengue case back in 2000, but the country recorded its first major outbreak in 2019. That year, death toll from the disease hit 179, and the number of infected reached nearly 60,000 people.
On 20 August 1897, British physician Ronald Ross discovered that Anopheles mosquito-transmitted malaria to humans through a granular-type black pigment in the stomach. Later, he won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this discovery.
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom began celebrating the day in honour of the British physician. World Mosquito Day has been formally celebrated since 1930.
Dr Malay Choudhury, additional secretary at the Urban Development Wing under LGRD ministry said, “Bangladesh does not yet mark the World Mosquito Day in any official capacity. The authorities concerned are cordially working to control mosquito-borne diseases.”
