By Khelen Thokchom
Imphal, Feb. 11: Manipur has the lowest cases of malaria among neighbouring states in the Northeast, however, health experts cautioned that the state can face an outbreak of malaria any time.
According to information available at the Manipur office of the National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme, Manipur registered only 145 cases of malaria last year, an increase of 25 cases from 2013. There were 120 malaria cases in 2013.
Officials at the disease control office in Imphal said Manipur has the lowest cases of malaria because of the traditional habit of using mosquito nets, concerted efforts by the control programme officials and also more awareness of the people living in the state.
The officials said the neighbouring states registered 2,000 and above cases of malaria last year. There were no deaths from malaria in Manipur in the past three years while some of the states in the Northeast like Tripura recorded malaria deaths in the past three years.
"But we should not be complacent. Manipur has a cyclical outbreak of malaria and we can experience malaria outbreak in Manipur any time," L. Ashananda Singh, regional director, regional office of health and family welfare said.
He said Manipur experienced an outbreak in 2006 and again in 2010. So Manipur may be staring at chances of another outbreak this year or next. He, however, could not give any specific reason for the cyclical outbreak.
In Manipur, Churachandpur, Tamenglong and Chandel districts and Jiribam sub-division of Imphal East, neighbouring Cachar district of Assam are malaria-prone areas.
Last year, Churachandpur had the highest instances of malaria with 39 cases. Tamenglong comes next with 22 cases and Chandel with 11 cases.
"These areas are malaria prone, because of the high humidity and temperatures," A. Ritendramohan Singh, consultant of diseases control programme said.
The officials said while Dimapur and Aizawl have a large number of malaria cases, Imphal has not reported any malaria case, minimising chances of spreading the disease to other parts of the state.
"The disease is spread by mosquitoes indigenously in the malaria-prone areas of the state. The number of cases rose in 2014 because of import of the disease from other states," Ashananda said.
The officials warned of an outbreak because of the prevailing situation in the neighbouring states and in Myanmar. Manipur shares more than a 350km long border with Myanmar, which has high cases of malaria.
The officials said of the six diseases for which national control programme is taken up only three diseases, dengue, malaria and Japanese encephalitis, are found in Manipur. The other three diseases, kala-azar, filaria and chikungunya, are not reported in Manipur.