LAHORE, Oct 24: The family of dengue fever patients from Daroghawala has belied the City District Government’s claims that their Sindhi guests transmitted the virus to two of their male members.

One of the family member told Dawn on Wednesday that as they had no relative or friend residing in Sindh, hosting any visitor from the province was out of question.

Malik Imtiaz, 39, and his son Bilawal, 15, were hospitalised on Oct 9 where they were diagnosed as suffering from dengue fever. Their condition improved in the following couple of weeks and they were discharged from the hospital on Tuesday.

Imtiaz’s elder brother Malik Nawaz said no official of the Punjab or the district government visited the patients or their family to investigate the causes of the disease. He said the health officials also did not visit the hospital to inquire after the patients or to order that they should be given special care and treatment.

“The briefing given to the district coordination officer on Tuesday by health officials was a white lie and fabrication of facts.”

Malik Nawaz also belied the city government’s claims of launching controlled fumigation in Daroghawala locality to exterminate mosquitoes.

He said only his brother’s house was fumigated and the officials even did not sprinkle any mosquito repellent in an empty plot adjacent to their house where heaps of garbage were lying, providing a safe haven to mosquitoes.