斯里蘭卡53人因防蚊不力被逮捕

因未能清理居住環境周邊的積水和蚊子滋生地，導致登革熱病菌傳播，斯里蘭卡首都科倫坡日前有53人被警方逮捕，他們將面臨罰款及最高6個月的入獄處罰。科倫坡警方發言人稱，這是警方第一次因爲防蚊不力大規模抓人。斯里蘭卡今年已有74人死於登革熱，感染人數高達1.5萬。衛生官員表示，登革熱感染人數上升是因爲居民不注重周邊環境的清理，雨季期間很可能成爲蚊子的滋生地，而登革熱病菌多通過東南亞常見的白紋伊蚊傳播。爲了防範登革熱的傳播，斯里蘭卡警方、軍方以及衛生官員上週日查看了科倫坡的一萬餘戶住宅。另外，政府還派出1萬名安保人員搜尋各類蚊子滋生場所並與公衆一同進行清理工作。

Police arrested 53 people for failing to eliminate stagnant water and other mosquito breeding grounds as Sri Lanka tries to prevent dengue fever, which has infected thousands already this year.

Police, army and health officers searched 11,500 houses in the capital Colombo over seven hours Sunday, police spokesman Ajith Rohana said. Those arrested for not cleaning up their surrounding environment face fines and up to six months in jail.

He said this is the first time police made such a large number of arrests from Colombo for failing to clean mosquito breeding places.

Dengue fever has killed 74 people this year and infected 15,000. Health officials say it has increased because residents have become more careless about cleaning their properties and eliminating mosquito breeding grounds.

The flu-like illness is spread by the Aedes mosquito and spikes during the annual monsoons, when the rains leave puddles of stagnant water where the insects breed. In Sri Lanka, the southwest monsoon that usually begins in May lasts until September.

Dengue starts suddenly with a high fever, rash, severe headache and pain behind the eyes and in the muscles and joints. The severity of the joint pain has given dengue the name "breakbone fever." Nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite also are common.

The government said last week 10,000 security forces had been deployed to help dengue eradication efforts this month. They help to search houses and buildings to detect breeding places and join other public workers to clean public buildings and places.