Azrul Mohd Khalib, chief executive of the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy, said the altering weather patterns caused by climate change were creating ideal and more efficient conditions for mosquitoes to breed and for the dengue virus to spread.

“It is also causing the usual dengue seasons to shift, making it harder to predict the locations and scale of outbreaks.”

According to a media report yesterday, 119,198 dengue cases have been recorded up to Nov 29, an average of 359 new cases a day. The previous highest number of cases was 120,836 in 2015.

Azrul said other countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were also recording a record-high number of dengue cases. “In fact, the Philippines has declared a national dengue epidemic,” he said.

He urged Malaysian health authorities to expand field trials using the Wolbachia bacteria, which makes mosquito eggs resistant to the dengue virus.

“The findings so far have shown incredibly promising results,” he said, citing reports by the Institute for Medical Research showing reductions of at least 40% in areas where Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes have been released.

Malaysian Medical Association president Dr N Ganabaskaran called for greater efforts to monitor construction sites, schools, parks, and abandoned buildings.

“Stop-work orders should be issued on construction sites found to be mass breeding grounds for mosquitoes,” he said.

In the 1970s and 1980s, he added, enforcement teams from municipal councils would check on houses and drains which had become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

“Fines were imposed on owners of houses found with stagnant water. While this may be a strict enforcement measure, it was effective in educating the public and eliminating breeding grounds for the Aedes mosquito.”

He also urged the public to do their part by keeping their homes, surroundings and neighbourhoods clean and free of stagnant water.