Law enforcement officers in Sri Lanka arrested 53 locals over their failure to combat mosquitoes in their neighborhoods, Times of India newspaper reported.
The incident, which gives new meaning to “pesky insects,” was prompted by fears of the growing epidemic of dengue, a tropical disease transmitted by mosquitoes, the newspaper said on Sunday.
Police and the military checked some 11,000 households in the capital Colombo as part of the anti-dengue campaign, a police spokesman said.
The search found more then 50 violators who allowed “dengue mosquito breeding grounds,” or pools of stagnant water, to pop up on the premises of their households, the spokesman said. He did not elaborate on the penalties they are facing over the neglect.
More than 11,000 cases of dengue infection were registered in Sri Lanka in the first six months of 2012, which is three times more than for the same period the previous year. The disease with symptoms similar to malaria and typhoid fever has resulted in 76 fatalities since the start of this year.
