COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is deploying the military to contain the spread of mosquito-borne dengue fever, as health authorities warned on Tuesday that hospitals are being overwhelmed with more than 1,000 admissions daily.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s office said army, navy and air force officers would join a special unit to identify and destroy mosquito breeding sites.
Dengue causes high fevers, headaches, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain and, in the most serious cases, bleeding that can lead to death.
Nearly 50,000 cases have been reported this year, with 29 deaths, although that is still far below the 2017 peak, when 186,000 patients and 440 deaths were reported.
The Aedes mosquito that spreads dengue — identifiable by its black and white striped legs — breeds in stagnant pools.
