The opposition today lambasted the government's handling of a looming dengue outbreak, saying the lack of preventive masures had caused dengue to "spiral out of control".

Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said yesterday that dengue cases were increasing every week, and the nation would face an outbreak unless efforts to eradicate virus-carrying mosquitoes were stepped up.

"(Chua) must explain why the Health Ministry was complacent in dealing with the dengue threat and fully account for its failure in dengue preventive measures which have caused dengue to spiral out of control," said Democratic Action Party (DAP) secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

Lim said that although deaths from dengue had been falling since 2002 when they peaked at 99 fatalities, the number of cases was on the rise and had increased by 26.5 percent so far this year compared to the same period in 2004.

"Unknown to Malaysians, last year 2004 saw the worst dengue epidemic in the nation's history with 33,203 dengue cases," he said in a statement.

"The declining number of deaths has probably contributed to a sense of complacency amongst Health Ministry officials that the problem is being controlled."

Lim urged the ministry to "admit its weakenesses and shortcomings" and hire foreign and local experts to study what he said was a "dengue crisis" in Malaysia.

Hotspot areas

The Health Ministry has announced a major compaign to combat the spread of dengue fever, focusing on Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, the high-tech hub of Penang and Johor in the south.

Education Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein has also said that schools considered to be at high risk of a dengue epidemic should be closed down immediately.

Neighbouring Singapore is battling its worst dengue outbreak on record, which has claimed the lives of 11 people and infected almost 11,000 people.

The city-state has launched an all-out campaign to eradicate mosquito breeding grounds but the efforts have failed to curb the outbreak.