Kolkata, Jul 6 (IANS): Early trend is hinting at the possibility of the spread of dengue during the monsoon season in West Bengal with the total number of affected people having already crossed the 2,000 mark at the end of the first week of July.

Sources in the Health Department said the number of affected people till July 4 has already touched 2,095, adding that the figures could be more since not all the cases have been reported, with Malda and Murshidabad districts leading the tally.

The number of cases in Durgapur, the industrial township in West Burdwan district, is also substantially high.

The sources added that Health Department officials are in constant touch with the different civic authorities to ensure that the situation does not get out of control.

The dengue menace took an alarming shape in 2023 when the state reported over 76,000 cases till November last year, which was around 10,000 more than the 2022 figures.

With the full-fledged monsoon yet to arrive in the state, the medical fraternity is not ruling out the probability of Bengal reporting a large number of dengue cases this year as well.

The medical fraternity is also emphasising that the Health Department should report all dengue cases to the National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control (NCVBDC).

Last year, West Bengal was the only state that did not share any data on this count with the central monitoring agency.