By IANS,
Colombo : A total of 56 people have died in the first five months out of 11,000 cases of dengue fever in Sri Lanka, the health ministry said Wednesday.
The ministry said that from January till May, a total of 11,473 patients were reported with the disease, Xinhua reported.
The ongoing rainy season would worsen the situation in the coming days, the ministry warned, and urged public to keep their localities clean and clear of mosquito breeding sites.
According to the ministry, the number of cases has tripled in the first quarter of this year compared to 2011.
A total of 9,317 cases were reported from January to March 2012, against 3,103 in the first quarter of 2011.
Nearly 50 percent of the cases were recorded in the Western Province, where most of the island’s 20 million people live.
The military has joined the battle against the epidemic, and would help in cleaning the localities.