Detection of dengue viral infections in Aedes mosquitoes: an essential tool for epidemiological surveillance.

Dengue fever (DF) and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) are important mosquito-borne viral diseases of humans and recognised as important emerging infectious diseases in the tropics and subtropics. There has been a considerable increase in the geographic spread, number of cases and severity of the disease in the past four decades, since there is a drastic change in the environment due to rapid urbanization and increase in transportation facilities in several parts of India. Thus, the disease once confi ned to urban areas has now penetrated in to rural areas with several outbreaks from rural areas.