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percent, against the recommended level of below 5 percent.

The Breteau index, which measures the number of positive containers per 100 houses inspected, was 30.81, well above the safe threshold of below 20.

The survey identified eight wards as exceptionally high-risk areas for a dengue outbreak: Uttar Kattali (Ward 10), Panchlaish (Ward 3), Jalalabad (Ward 2), Paschim Bakalia (Ward 17), Dakkhin Bakalia (Ward 19), Dakkhin Halishahar (Ward 39), Patharghata (Ward 34), and Anderkilla (Ward 32).

Entomologists found that Aedes aegypti, also known as the yellow fever mosquito, accounted for 70-80 percent of the larvae detected, while Aedes albopictus, also known as the Asian tiger mosquito, made up the remaining 20-30 percent.

The survey team recommended preventing water from remaining stagnant in containers for more than three days, maintaining cleanliness around homes and workplaces, removing plastic waste through municipal drives, and intensifying monitoring of high-rise buildings, basements, and construction sites.

It also recommended timely larvicide and adulticide operations, with adulticide spraying immediately after sunrise and just before sunset.

The team also called for proper application of insecticides to prevent mosquito resistance.

Md Mofizul Haque Shah, divisional entomologist at the Chattogram Divisional Health Office, who led the survey, said June to September is typically the peak dengue season, prompting the department to conduct a pre-monsoon mosquito census.

He stressed the need for greater public awareness and effective implementation of the recommendations to prevent a dengue outbreak.

Sharful Islam Mahi, mosquito control officer of CCC, said they had already launched a special “crash programme” based on the survey findings.

“A dedicated 60-member team is working exclusively in the identified hotspots, and we have sufficient stocks of larvicide and adulticide for the next six months,” he said.

He said CCC plans to conduct two more surveys during the middle and end of the monsoon to monitor changes in mosquito breeding patterns.

To strengthen public awareness, CCC, in collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders, launched a citywide awareness campaign on June 21.