Eight trawler workers test positive for dengue

Panaji: Eight trawler workers at Cutbona jetty have tested positive on the rapid test for dengue, the deputy director of health services and the in charge of the national vector-borne disease control program, Dr Kaplana Mahatme, said.

“All of them are imported cases of dengue. There is no transmission in the locality, which shows that there was early detection and prevention by the department,” she said. Thousands of workers have descended on the jetty from other states after the fishing ban was lifted. They are being screened for malaria. “If they have fever, they are also tested for dengue, and that’s how these eight cases were detected,” she said.

During a source reduction drive recently, health workers found larvae breeding in some sites and destroyed them. Fogging was done at some places.

Locals are asked to clean their premises to avoid stagnant water. “If there’s no mosquito breeding site in the area, dengue will not spread,” she said.

“We cannot prevent people from bringing the virus into Goa, but it’s our job to prevent its transmission,” she said. Trawler owners are asked to inform the health department in cases of fever.

The case of the 19-year-old worker from Orissa who died was not a case of dengue, she said. “He was very serious with severe loose motions and high fever. The rapid test was not done for dengue as he was taken directly from the trawler to Hospico, in South Goa where he was declared brought dead,” she said.


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