Efforts to contain the outbreak of viral fever in Kerala intensified with defence medical teams stepping in to help the state health authorities and medicines and preventive kits being flown in to the state from the Army Depot in Mumbai.
Medical teams of the Army and Navy, comprising doctors and paramedical staff, plunged into action in the worst-hit districts of Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Idukki helping the state medical personnel in launching vector-control and sanitation measures.
According to a Defence spokesman, one team each from the Pangode Military Station here were already doing service in Pathanamthitta and Amburi in Thiruvananthapuram and two Naval teams from Kochi had reached Kottayam and Idukki districts.
A special IAF flight carrying medicines and vector-control kits from the Army Depot in Mumbai has reached here and the supplies would be moved to the affected areas immediately.
Army teams from Secundrabad and Chennai would arrive at the affected areas by today. Also a central team led by Director General of Health Services is expected to arrive here this evening to assess the situation and decide on the support to the state to tackle the situation.
While the number of deaths in the state due to different types of fever including Chikungunya was officially put at 40, media reports from across the state said the actual figure could have crossed 50.
Meanwhile, Additional Director of the Pune-based Vector Borne Diseases Control Institute, P K Sreevastava, discussed the situation with state Health Minister P K Sreemathi.