Entomological Investigations of DF/DHF Outbreak in Rural Areas of Hissar District, Haryana, India

Entomological investigations were carried out in six out of 18 villages which reported DF/DHF outbreaks and in four randomly-selected non-affected villages of Hissar district in Haryana State during August 1996. The investigations revealed the establishment of the breeding of vector species, Aedes aegypti, in artificial containers in domestic and peri-domestic situations due to water storage practices. Earthen pots, cement tanks, plastic containers , and desert coolers were found to be the main sources of Ae. aegypti breeding. In the fever-affected villages, the House, Container and Breteau indices ranged from 40.00 to 81.81, 11.50 to 35.10 and 51.10 to 150.00 respectively. However, in the randomly-selected non-affected villages, the House, Container and Breteau indices varied from 0.0 to 44.44, 0.0 to 14.86 and 0.0 to 55.5 respectively, indicating thereby the high receptivity of the area to DF/DHF transmission. The spread of DF/DHF to rural areas is a matter of great concern to public health authorities and needs immediate attention to gear up vector surveillance and timely preventive and intervention measures.