Chennai, Nov 8 (PTI) As many as 493 persons have been affected by dengue in Tamil Nadu, state Health Minister Ma Subramanian said on Monday.

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A central team has arrived in the state and it will share its expertise with the officials over the control of the disease and also know about the measures implemented by the government against dengue, he told reporters here.

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"All over Tamil Nadu, 493 persons have been affected by dengue. Last October, 30,000 (dengue-related) tests were conducted while it was 1.21 lakh this October," he said.

On the visit of the central team, Subramanian said the members had come to "create an understanding" to state officials on the action needed to be taken against dengue and will meet patients at the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital here on Tuesday and later visit neighbouring Tiruvallur district, he added.

"Today they met us and had a constructive discussion" on the matter, Subramanian said, adding, the team that visited Ranipet district lauded the state government's measures to control dengue.

The Union health ministry had earlier sent teams of experts to nine states--including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh and union territories, which had been reporting a high number of dengue cases, to support them in public health measures for control and management of the disease.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)