More seeking pest control services amid dengue epidemic

SINGAPORE — As the current dengue epidemic worsens, some pest control companies have been seeing better business. The companies have attributed this to the public being more informed about the disease.

Fumiga Pest Management Service said it has seen its number of customers increase by up to 20 per cent.

Mr Ng Say Kiat, managing director at Fumiga Pest Management Service, said: “If we compare with the last outbreak, I think you will notice that there are more people, especially in the condominiums and in the other housing estates, as well as in the commercial buildings, they actually requested more services to be done at their premises, and this is probably due to the dengue outbreak, and also due to the publicity (on dengue) on TV and in other media.”

Meanwhile, the Tanjong Pagar Town Council has stepped up cleaning and vector control measures to prevent mosquito breeding in the common areas after a 66-year-old man, who lived at Tanglin Halt Road, died from dengue fever. It is also continuing the oiling and checking of roof tops.

The National Environment Agency is conducting vector control operations in the area, which is in a dengue cluster consisting of four cases.

As at 3pm today (July 9), the number of dengue cases this year is 12,628.