KARACHI: A motorcycle-bound fumigation machine, dubbed the ‘Motofog’, will soon be used to fumigate the streets of the metropolis to control the population of mosquitoes.

The Motofog has been introduced for the first time in Pakistan under the Dengue Control and Prevention Program by the Sindh Department of Health. It will be used to access areas such as narrow lanes, where other fumigation vehicles cannot reach due to constrained space.

“The induction of the new machines will be more effective in a city like Karachi since it can go in narrow lanes,” said the Dengue Control and Prevention Program manager Dr Masood Solangi.

“The machines will be utilised from the coming week in all the areas where mosquito-borne diseases have affected the lives of people,” he said.

Karachi recently saw an outbreak of the Chikungunya disease, a viral disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. As many as 250 people have tested positive for the Chikungunya virus in the city so far, prompting concerns among the authorities to prevent the spread of the disease.

A nine-member delegation of the World Health Organisation reached Karachi earlier this month to help health authorities prevent the spread of the Chikungunya disease.

Another 10 people were reported to have been diagnosed with dengue fever – a mosquito-borne tropical disease – in March this year.