No need to panic on dengue: Govt

However, the Govt admits that the mosquito-borne disease is yet to be fully contained. Your take? | Pics

Government on Thursday said that there was no panic situation or threat of an epidemic following spate of dengue cases in Delhi and other parts of the country but admitted that the mosquito-borne disease has not yet been fully contained.

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"I would not say it has been fully contained. I would say that the government is trying to reduce it in a manner so that it does not spread," Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi told reporters after a meeting of the Union Cabinet where the issue figured.

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, who briefed the Cabinet on the dengue situation, confirmed 15 deaths and 600 cases besides over 200 reported from other states.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose two grand children and a son-in-law have been admitted to a Delhi hospital with suspected dengue symptoms, heard the Minister but made no intervention.

"There is no panic situation and there is no epidemic," Dasmunsi said.

Asked whether dengue situation has been brought under control, he said that the government has been quite active and a meeting of the Health Ministers of states affected by the disease has been convened by the Centre.

Dasmunsi said that most of the states had acted on steps suggested by the Health Ministry six months back to contain dengue. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi had also taken measures including fogging operations. He said the figure could have been otherwise much higher.

"However, it does not mean that the government was complacent," he said.