The Ministry of Health, Nutrition, and Indigenous Medicine has decided to launch a special two-day dengue prevention program from Wednesday in several districts of the country to prevent the disease spreading.

The program will be implemented in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Jaffna, Batticaloa and Kalmunai where dengue is more prevalent.

Due to the recurring rains, there is a growing threat of dengue, the Health Ministry says and the special program will be implemented to prevent the mosquito-borne disease from spreading.

According to the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry, in the first half of January, 2,387 cases of dengue have been reported to the unit. Out of those, 464 cases were reported from Colombo district, 263 from Gampaha district, 226 from Jaffna district, 174 from Batticaloa district, 205 from Kurunegala district, 176 from Puttalam district and 113 from Kalmunai area.