By Xinhua
Kuala Lumpur : The outbreak of dengue fever has claimed 57 lives in Malaysia, media reported Thursday.
The health ministry has spent over 10 million ringgit (little less than $3 million) since 2004 on dengue fever prevention and control measures, The Star newspaper said.
Most of the money was spent on chemicals including pesticides and larvicides, fogging machines, personal protection apparatus, educational tools and conducting training programmes, said Auk Lee Kah Choon, parliamentary secretary of the health ministry.
"The ministry is aware of the increase in dengue fever as a result of floods," he said.
However, Lee said the increase in dengue cases in the capital occurred even before the June 10 flash floods.
"The dengue fever situation is still under control and the ministry will continue to take steps to weed out the problem," he said.