The health administration of Baleswar district is on its toes as several cases of fever attributed to dengue have been reported within a couple of days although no casualty has occurred so far. Till now, as many as 69 patients have been detected with dengue virus out of 288 blood sample testing. While dengue cases are being reported from all the blocks in the district, the majority of the cases are from north Baleswar. Particularly, Benapur under Basta block of north Baleswar has come under the scanner of the health department as within last three days 22 patients have been detected with the virus. A medical team headed by the nodal officer has rushed to Benapur not only to collect blood samples but also to look after the cleaning, sanitation and hygiene of the village. Nodal Health Officer Anil Shaw said, “Till today, 69 cases of dengue have been detected out of the tested 288. Besides 15 more cases of this district are detected in Cuttack. We are referring the cases to the SCB Medical College Hospital when some other ailment complications are seen in a patient on the patient’s request.” He said that at Benapur a door-to-door blood sample collection has been undertaken. However, so far no death due to dengue is reported from anywhere in the district. Stagnant water clearing and full-sleeve dress wearing besides use of mosquito net are the simple and most required preventative measures, he said. The health department became alert after a person of the district died of dengue in Puttapurthy in the last week of last month. The deceased, Baikuntha Pradhan (38) of village Kurutia under Bhograi block, who was in a 150-member Satya Sai Seva Sangathan team, was in Puttapurthy when he was attacked by dengue. On the return of the Sai devotees, the health department had conducted blood sample test and dengue virus was also detected in some of them belonging to different parts of the district. The other places where dengue patients have been detected are Hathigarh (12), Rupsa (9) and Remuna (4). “We are closely monitoring the situation and taking all preventive and curative steps for dengue. A special ward 9in the District Headquarters Hospital) is used for the purpose,” said Chief District Medical Officer Anup Kumar Gosh, adding, “Currently, there are nine indoor patients while six have been referred to SCB Medical College Hospital.”