VIENTIANE,
Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Infections with the mosquito-borne dengue virus have led to
a reported nine deaths from 2,300 confirmed cases in Laos during the country's
ongoing rainy season, the country's Ministry of Health confirmed to local media
Wednesday.
The
southern Lao province of Champassak recorded to highest toll nationwide, with
some 7 deaths recorded from more than 1,000 reported cases, according to a
statement from the Emerging Disease Surveillance Unit, Lao News Agency KPL
reported.
Provinces
of Borikhamxay and Saravan each reported a single fatality from 300 and 96 reported
infection cases respectively.
Lao
capital Vientiane saw 148 reported cases of infection, representing a decrease
on the same time during the previous year.
Clearance
of potential mosquito breeding sites including emptying reservoirs of stagnant
water and distributing larvae eating guppy fish are among the strategies
adopted by health authorities across the Southeast Asian country as they seek
to engage public assistance and bolster efforts to prevent the further spread
of the virus among the population of some 6.5 million.
Bordered
by China's province of Yunnan as well as its more populous Southeast Asian
neighbours Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, Laos is considered an
increasingly important contributor to efforts to prevent regional outbreaks of
viruses and infectious diseases including dengue, polio and avian influenza.
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