MANSEHRA: Health officials have urged residents to adopt preventive measures against chikungunya amid rising incidence here.

They told Dawn that Mansehra district reported over 90 suspected cases of the mosquito-borne viral disease in the last few weeks, the highest in the province, and 14 of them were confirmed by the National Institute of Health in Islamabad.

The officials said more and more people with chikungunya symptoms were approaching health centres across the district.

They said the NIH was the only facility in the country to test chikungunya but it took two to four weeks to release results.

`People should eliminate mosquito breeding grounds at home and outside to prevent and control chikungunya, whose symptoms are mostly like dengue`s,` an official of the health department said.

He said dengue hotspots were being fumigated in an attempt to prevent chikungunya outbreaks as well.

When contacted, district health officer Dr Faisal Khanzada confirmed that the district had recorded more than90 suspected chikungunya cases in the last few weeks.

He said the hospitals hadn`t admitted any confirmed or suspected case.

Dr Faisal said NIH confirmed 14 chikungunya cases, while the report on other suspected cases was awaited.

He said the Nika Pani union council was worst hit by the infection in the district with 11 confirmed cases.

The DHO said three of those cases had recovered from chikungunya.

JI MEMBERSHIP: The Jamaat-i-1slami on Thursday launched a membership drive in Mansehra district.

`People from different walks of life are visiting our camps and stalls in large numbers to join our party,` JI emir for PK-40 constituency Mohammad Asim Shahzad told reporters here.

He said those camps and stalls had been established in Shinkiari, Ichrian, Battal, and Chaterplan.

Mr Shahzad saidHundreds of people, especially youth, had so far joined the party, posing confidence in the leadership of central emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman.

He said his party`s recent protests against record inflation, power prices, and taxes on salaried class motivated people to join it.