Bangladeshi capital employs drones to control dengue outbreak

BANGLADESH: Facing an annual outbreak of dengue fever, the administration of Dhaka has introduced a fleet of drones to monitor the city for potential breeding sites of disease-spreading mosquitoes.

Hot, humid and crowded, Bangladesh’s sprawling capital struggles with swarms of mosquitoes due to its climate and unplanned urbanization.

The breeding of insects becomes a major health concern during the monsoon season between June and September, when thousands of Dhaka residents contract dengue, a viral and potentially deadly disease transmitted to humans by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, which breed in freshwater pools and rain drains.

The disease used to be rare in Bangladesh in the 1960s, but for the past two decades its incidence has increased dramatically and in 2019 — the worst dengue outbreak year in the country’s history — more than 100,000 cases were reported across the country, mainly in Dhaka.

This year alone, already more than 1,300 people have been hospitalized with dengue in the Bangladeshi capital, while the monsoon season is not even in full swing yet.

To contain the outbreak, the Dhaka North City Corporation, which governs about 80 percent of the Bangladeshi capital’s 22 million people, last week deployed 10 drones to monitor residential areas for containers with standing water, where Aedes mosquitoes could breed.

Based on drone footage, administration officials identify spots with stagnant water and visit the sites to assess if they are hazardous.

Data obtained from drones is going to serve for future dengue-prevention efforts.

– ARAB NEWS