Dengue fever infects 1200 in
Pakistan. Dengue affects between 50 and 100 million people in the tropics and
subtropics each year, resulting in fever, muscle and joint ache. But it can also
be fatal, developing into hemorrhagic fever and shock syndrome, which is
characterized by bleeding and a loss of blood pressure.
The disease is found mostly in cities. The WHO says forty percent of the world’s
population is now at risk in more than one hundred countries. Southeast Asia and
the Western Pacific are the most affected. Dengue is also found in Africa, the
Americas and the eastern Mediterranean. There is no vaccine against dengue and
no special treatment.
Fumigation is the best operation suggested by Lankan experts for control of this
ruinous disease. Doctor Muhammad Hussain Syed, DCO from Pakistan had declared
early, when dengue stars spreading, the city government would launch a
fumigation campaign for 40,000 houses in certain areas of the city. But now, the
city government cannot fumigate all of them. He said that the City District
Government Karachi (CDGK) could not enter all homes and premises but would focus
only on high-risk areas. The coming seven weeks are crucial for dengue because
the number of cases tend to escalate in October.
For survival of human precious life it’s better to perform fumigation by our own
self rather than dependant on foreign aid or Government remedy. But before this
we must have little information about this technique and its utilizations.
Fumigation is an operation in which the pesticide acts as a gas (although it may
not be applied in the form of a gas) to control or kill pests or other
undesirable organisms.
Fumigation in the pest control world is a severe and highly toxic method of
controlling infestations, depending on the target species. They are potentially
highly toxic and dangerous to humans and are only used in extreme situations as
a last resort.
Exposure to frequent fumigation causes a range of respiratory and skin ailments.
The effects of fumigation depend largely on the type of fumigant used and the
extent of exposure. Fumigants such as chloropicrin, metam sodium, methyl
bromide, methyl iodide and Telone (1,3-Dichloropropene) cause a range of
symptoms including respiratory tract irritation, headaches, loss of
coordination, slurred speech, skin burning and rashes, diarrhea, and acute
kidney and liver failure.
Fumigants affect not only their target microorganisms but also the environment
at large. According to S. Cohen, T. Martin and M. L. Flint in the book "Field
Fumigation," fumigants move through the soil and remain in it for days and weeks
after initial application.
According to David Pimentel in the "Encyclopedia of Pest Management, Volume 2,"
methyl bromide, a major soil fumigant, is known to be directly responsible for
ozone depletion. Toxic levels of methyl bromide persist for three weeks or
longer in soil, moving through water films and air spaces.
Few following Precautions must have to adopt before fumigation;
Areas must be completely sealed before they can be fumigated. In addition, you
must remove pets, plants and mattresses and sealed food and medicine before
fumigation, as the gas will kill anything living and may leave residue on
mattresses. Fumigators must wear gas masks and protective clothing. Determine
the proper insecticide to use for your region by contacting your local
Agricultural Extension Service.
Mosquitoes in some locales have become resistant to one or more insecticides,
but if you are unable to get specific advice, use a product labeled specifically
for killing mosquitoes and containing a combination of malathion and permethrin
or pyrethrins.
Mosquitoes also spread malaria. The kind of mosquito that injects the malaria
parasite into the people it bites is most active around sunset and sunrise. So
bed nets can help protect people while they sleep. But the mosquito that spreads
dengue, Aedes aegypti, is most active during the day.
Mosquitoes now spreading its net of spreading disease into other countries as
there have been four unconfirmed deaths and some patients have been showing
symptoms of Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever, a more severe form of the disease, the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), reported in an
update.
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has provided essential drugs
to help treat an outbreak of dengue fever that has affected an estimated 1,000
people in the north-eastern Kenyan district of Mandera, which borders Ethiopia
and Somalia.
So if dengue is spreading from Sri lanka to India then Pakistan and now very
recently in Somalia and Ethiopia the must be followed by few precautions rather
then relaxed and wait for time to cure the problem when it become a monster and
difficult to control such fiend.