Devastating urban flooding and dengue outbreak during the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan
Muhammad Junaid Tahir, Ahsun Rizwan Siddiqi, Irfan Ullah, Ali Ahmed, Juman Abdulelah Dujaili, Muhammad Saqlain
Abstract
Pakistan has recently been overwhelmed by extreme torrential rains, with its most populous city of Karachi experiencing its worst floods in almost a century. Poor flood control and water disposal facilities have led to an immense risk of another dengue outbreak, with multiple cases being reported recently. The enormous accumulation of stagnant water in urban areas is a major source of mosquito breeding and transmission. Historical data has shown the correlation between the number of dengue cases and average rainfall in the region. The monsoon rains have pounded at a time where health authorities are battling to contain the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. There is a need to implement centralized dengue control strategies to undertake large scale water drainage, sanitation, and disinfection drives in disaster-stricken areas alongside public health awareness programs to combat the after-effects of this natural calamity.