Attachments
A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
Sri Lanka has been facing an unprecedented outbreak of Dengue fever. Sri Lanka is a tropical country with two monsoon seasons. With each monsoon rain brings in, two peaks of Dengue fever characterize the Dengue pattern of Sri Lanka, making it an endemic disease. However, 2017 started with exceptionally high number of Dengue cases which shot up to an outbreak by May-June 2017, creating the largest Dengue outbreak experienced by the country for last three decades.
A total of 155,715 suspected Dengue cases have been reported to the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Sri Lanka from all over the island, for the last 9 months of 2017 with over 320 deaths. All four Virus types of Dengue have been seen in Sri Lanka. The current outbreak is predominantly due to Dengue Fever Virus Type 2 (DEN-2), which is not the usual type circulating in Sri Lanka. According to the WHO this is a 4.3-fold higher than the average number of cases for the same period between 2010 and 2016.
It is evident that the number of Dengue cases is coming down drastically with the control interventions. There could be other contributory factors such as less rains and less pooled water collections etc., but latest data shows that the peak of the outbreak has passed, nevertheless it is extremely important to keep the dengue control efforts high, as preventive measure for the next expected peak following monsoon rains. However, Dengue cases are emerging in districts where the present outbreak was not previously reported. Historical data shows always there are two peaks of Dengue incidence in Sri Lanka. One during Southwest monsoons and another during Northeast monsoons. Analysis of the data on the present outbreak shows the incidence of Dengue is getting higher in eastern province and districts adjoining to western province. Especially with the commencement of the North-Eastern monsoons, there is a risk of Dengue outbreaks in more districts. The MoH has requested from SLRCS with a second letter dated 11 September 2017 to scale up the activities at community level.
In addition to the initial DREF operation, which covers Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts, the SLRCS is requesting for a second DREF allocation to support sustainable interventions in six more districts. The revised plan of action is attached at the end of this DREF operation update (click here). The DREF operation timeframe of six months is unchanged, however, an exceptional extension may be needed depending on the state of the outbreak.