Dengue under control in state, says Madurai health minister; precautionary measures are being taken in districts where cases are reported in large numbers

Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Darez Ahmed during an inspection at Simmakkal in Madurai with the resident on Thursday. | Photo credit: R. ASHOK

Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Darez Ahmed said on Thursday that dengue was largely under control in Tamil Nadu, that numerous measures were being taken in districts where the number of cases was higher.

The top official was in Madurai to review the preparedness of officials to deal with dengue cases. He toured Simakkal (in Ward 50, Zone 3) in Madurai city and interacted with several residents during a door-to-door survey at Lakshmi Narayanapuram Agraharam, accompanied by District Collector Nishanth Krishna, Corporation Commissioner Gaurav Kumar and others.

Speaking to the media, Mr. Darez Ahmed said that with the onset of North East Monsoon, the government is ready to deal with cases of dengue, cholera, typhoid and other types of fever.

Responding to a query, he said there were nine deaths and 17,939 dengue cases in the state as of September 23. RT-PCR tests have been performed at 131 sites and 2.23 million people have been screened so far.

To another question, he replied that dengue cases are well under control and there is no need to panic. He explained the steps taken by the department’s field workers and urged the residents to cooperate in preventing waterlogging among other things.

He said Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruvallur, Salem, Chengalpattu and several other districts are under constant surveillance as higher numbers of cases have been reported. “We are closely monitoring and visiting the places where dengue positive cases came from,” he stressed.

Madurai reported 288 dengue cases as on September 23, including 105 in corporation limits, 11 in municipalities, 9 in panchayats and 163 in city panchayats. Field personnel were conducting fogging operations that would intensify even in rural pockets.

The state government has deployed 26,303 DBCs across the state and 5,818 field surveys have been conducted so far. “We are proactive and there is no need to worry as there is adequate coordination among key departments which has helped phenomenally in controlling dengue,” he concluded.

Published – 24 Sep 2026 21:40 IST