six cases of dengue fever have been recorded in the last weeks, according to Anas Al-Baloushi, head of Jeddah Preventive Health. “We had 61 suspected cases, 30 last week and 31 this week, resulting in 20 confirmed cases from last week and a further six this week,” he said. He said that the total number of confirmed cases of dengue since the beginning of the year was 61. “There is a fear of a spread of the illness, but the mayoralty is continuing its spraying work and Health Affairs is making special efforts to control the number of cases,” Al-Baloushi said. He said that a large public awareness campaign was being carried out across Jeddah. “We are focusing mainly on the sites where cases of dengue fever have already been identified over the last two years. We are spraying pesticides and sterilizing areas of stagnant water, and trying to inform the public, particularly in areas of east Jeddah and districts of uncontrolled building.” He said that while sterilizing remained effective for three months, the ideal solution is to pump away sites of stagnant water. “The problem is that there are many sites that have their water removed only for it to return. We are concerned over the effectiveness of spraying stagnant water due to water continuing to seep up from the ground, which has actually become saturated.” Concerning cases of malaria in Jeddah, Al-Baloushi said the number were “few”. “All the cases concerned person of foreign nationality from other countries such as Sudan, India and Pakistan. No cases have been registered inside the Kingdom and all cases have been brought under control. Malaria is spread by the transfer of blood from an infected person to another person, unlike the dengue-bearing mosquito, which carries the virus inside it.” Other concerns, such as cholera, are being carefully monitored by the authorities, Al-Baloushi said. “Examinations have been given to over 3,000 people and we have not found a single case of epidemic disease yet,” he said.
