The number of Dengue fever cases being reported in Male' and other islands of Maldives is increasing rapidly, a report by Department of Public Health (DPH) has revealed. According to the DPH reports, 1148 cases of Dengue Fever had been reported in Maldives since the beginning of this year; 903 of those cases are from Male'. The largest number, 200 cases, had been reported within the last three weeks. The report also shows that the number of cases this year was substantially more than during the last year for the same period. However, the reports also showed that in the last three years the number of reported cases had increased during this time of the year. The highest number of cases had been reported from Male' atoll, Laamu atoll, Shaviyani atoll, and Lhaviyani atoll. At a news conference held by the DPH, the Deputy Health Minister Dr. Azeez Yoosuf said that the situation had been getting worse since February and it was taking so long to bring it under control in part due to the weather. Since Dengue fever is spread by mosquitoes and because of the rainy weather it had become really difficult to control the breeding of mosquitoes, Dr. Azeez said. He also said that several programs to control mosquito breeding had commenced in Male' and in other islands. He also said that spraying insecticide had not really brought about positive results and that other methods had also been introduced. The DPH said that the most likely places where mosquitoes were breeding were at construction sites. As a result, many expatriate workers at the sites contacted the fever, DPH said.