LAHORE, Sept 16: The visiting Sri Lankan team of doctors found a huge number of dengue transmitting mosquitoes and their eggs on the premises of two major public health facilities of the city on Friday.

The head of the Sri Lankan team showed his astonishment at the presence of flowerpots having water near admin office of the teaching hospital at a time when dengue virus has hit the provincial capital hard, a health official, who accompanied the team, told Dawn.

Quoting Dr Hassitha Tisserra, the official said the head of the health institution would have been in jail at least in case of such negligence in Sri Lanka.

The 12-member team headed by Dr Tisserra found a large number of dengue mosquitoes in flowerpots outside medical superintendent’s office during a visit to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on Friday.

The running fountain outside the MS office alerted the team, which was otherwise visiting the hospital to see dengue patients.

The official said Dr Tisserra collected mosquito eggs on the side of containers having water. He said damp surfaces, tree holes, containers, drums, discarded bottles, used tyres and rainwater ponds were breeding sites for dengue mosquitoes.

The official said the experts collected mosquitoes and their eggs in large number from containers on the premises of Services Hospital, Racecourse Park and other parts of the city during their visit on Friday.

According to a handout issued on Friday, Dr Tisserra said dengue fever was 100 per cent curable and people should not be afraid of it. He asked people to take measures to minimise the risk. He said no government could fight the disease alonetherefore people’s participation was vital to fight all kinds of viruses.

He said every one should play his role in this regard and added that if five per cent of people remained ignorant to the threat they would ruin efforts of the 95 per cent of the population and dengue would prevail. He said dengue virus could not be eliminated in a day or two and its elimination could take a decade.

The Sri Lankan experts held meetings with Services Hospital principal Prof Dr Faisal Masood and medical superintendent Dr Mohammad Javed. They collected blood samples of patients, saw medical facilities being extended to patients and suggestedsome measures.

Later, the Sri Lankan team visited Gulberg and collected water samples from a tyre shop in Canal Park.