Biratnagar, Aug. 25 -- Attempts to contain dengue outbreak in Dharan have been of no avail since the dengue virus was first detected in the city on May 12. Instead, the number of infected patients has been increasing across Province 1 districts such as Udayapur, Panchthar and Morang, among others. Local units have implemented a 'search and destroy' drive to annihilate the larvae and pupae of the female Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes that cause dengue. But the drive has largely been fruitless.

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Hounding and killing fresh eggs of the mosquitoes is the only viable option to contain the dengue outbreak since there is no medicine or vaccine that could be used to cure the infe...