West Bengal is the only state that is not updating the number of dengue-affected cases and deaths caused by the aedes aegypti mosquito bites to the Union ministry of health since January, completely ignoring the mandatory central guidelines on prevention and monitoring of vector-borne diseases.

But the 34 other states and union territories of the country are regularly sending the latest updates on dengue to the ministry at a time when the fever has unofficially claimed more than 25 lives including several children in the state this year.

The latest data available with the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) under the ministry reveals that only West Bengal has not sent any updates on dengue since January though the state is being regularly getting the expensive IgM kits from the Centre free of cost for dengue confirmation tests. After Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala, Bengal is the fifth state in the country to get 600 IgM kits this year.

“Regular reports on dengue cases and deaths from each state are essential so that we can monitor and prevent the disease,” Dr P K Sen, director NVBDCP, told The Statesman from Delhi. Sources in the ministry said that they have repeatedly asked the officials from West Bengal to update dengue cases when they come to the ministry seeking kits. “How can a state like Bengal intentionally ignore the central guidelines when all other states are sending their reports every month to us? Last year, Bengal updated us till September,” sources added.

When contacted, the MoS for health, Chandrima Bhattacharya, said, “You talk to our officials at Swasthya Bhavan.”

“Last year, dengue outbreak had ravaged Bengal virtually in epidemic proportions, according to different media reports. But we could not announce that dengue was an epidemic in West Bengal because the issue is a state subject. We had sought repeated clarifications from the state health department for not sending dengue reports to us regularly in 2017,” an official in the Union health ministry said. Senior officials in the public health department at Swasthya Bhaban did not comment.

But an official, requesting anonymity, said, “The government has directed us not to divulge the dengue figure to anyone. Our job is to collect the names and addresses of dengue deaths appearing in the newspapers every day. There should not be any question of spreading panic among people.”