KARACHI: The outbreak of dengue viral fever may infect people in the flood-hit areas of the country including 10 major cities in October 2022, the Met Office warned on Friday, advising for pre-emptive steps to stop the disease.

In its ‘Dengue Alert I’, it said that the environment has become conducive for the dengue onset from mid September 2022, as the disease may break out in October 2022 to hit people of the flooded areas and 10 major cities.

The major cities include Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Larkana and Multan.

"Dengue fever has deepened its roots and impacted severely the health of people over the last ten years in the country," the Met Office said.

This phenomenon occurs especially during the post-monsoon period from September 20 till December 5 if the conditions are favourable for the dengue.

The dengue triggers during those periods where the temperature and humidity threshold remains between 26 Celsius and 29 Celsius for up to five weeks and 60 percent, respectively.

Moreover, the rainfall remains 27mm with a maximum time lag period of three weeks. The active period for dengue attacks is two hours after the sunrise and two hours before the sunset.

The dengue breeding stops once the temperature falls below 16 Celsius. All stakeholders should take pre-emptive measures against the spread of the dengue fever outbreak in the districts, the Met Alert said.

"National health agencies and dengue control centres are advised to keep themselves updated on PMD website http://www.pmd.gov.pk," it urged.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022