As the incidence of dengue increases, the Ministry of Health thinks of AI at war against mosquitoes | Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 – The Ministry of Health is considering the use of artificial intelligence to combat dengue haemorrhagic fever, which nearly doubled in the first half of the year.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad announced today that 62,421 cases had been reported from January 1 to June 29 this year, compared to 32,435 cases at the same time last year.

Dzulkefly said his department intended to find creative and effective ways to control the epidemic.

"We are studying the use of artificial intelligence to detect and make predictions about any dengue epidemic. We adopt a proactive and preventive attitude towards reactivity.

"This is one of the methods we are testing and we are currently conducting a pilot project in Penang," he told reporters after launching an operation to release Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes in Sri's apartment. Rakyat to Bukit Jalil today.

Dzulkefly explained that Wolbachia mosquitoes are used to displace the Aedes population by replacing female mosquitoes that carry the dengue virus with those carrying the previous strain.

According to the Minister, Malaysia is the second country after Australia to use this method.

He added that the ministry would release Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes in 11 localities of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

"This is one of our proactive methods to fight the rise of dengue cases," he said.

According to statistics, Selangor recorded the highest number of dengue cases this year, with 35,544 cases as of June 29, compared with 18,249 at the same time last year.

The country also recorded 93 deaths related to dengue fever until June 29 this year, compared with 53 deaths in the same period last year.