Pakistan

The chief minister of Punjab has stepped in to try to halt the spread of a dengue virus epidemic which has seen 799 confirmed cases and two deaths in the province.The epidemic appears to be concentrated in Lahore, with 754 cases confirmed. The first death was reported in Rawalpindi late last month and the second a few days later in Lahore. Zia-ur-Rehman, the focal person for dengue, told the Pakistani media that Ghulam Murtaza, brought in from Sheikhupura some 100 kilometers north of Lahore, was the “first patient with dengue to have died in Lahore.” (IRIN)