By IANS
New Delhi : About 17,000 suspected cases of chikungunya have been reported from across the country this year, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said here Thursday, adding that the government was taking measures to contain the spread of potentially deadly viral fever.
"Till June 18, India has reported 17,000 suspected cases of chikungunya and if we don't take immediate measures the situation will be grim during monsoon and post-monsoon," he said.
India had last year reported 1.4 million cases spread over 16 states.
"Though the chikungunya situation was much more alarming last year, we are taking the increasing number of such cases this year very seriously," he said.
The minister was addressing a meeting of the health ministers of the chikungunya-affected states in which preparations to meet the challenge were also reviewed.
Chikungunya is caused by a virus spread by the bite of Ades Egyptis mosquito that breeds in stagnated water in pools formed by pre-monsoon and monsoon showers.
Ramadoss directed the health ministers and health secretaries of the states including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat to set up village surveillance committees to keep a tab on sanitation and cleanliness in villages.
"We are giving Rs.10,000 each to every village sanitation committee for prevention purposes. The committees would help us formulate an agenda to fight such vector-borne diseases," Ramadoss said.