An outbreak of dengue fever has so far killed 38 people in and around the Indian capital, Delhi. Nearly 3,000 dengue cases have been reported, three of them close relatives of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Health officials are playing down the threat, telling people not to panic and to develop better sanitation.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease which affects Indians every year in the weeks following the monsoon, when mosquitoes breed in pools of stagnant water. Dengue is easily cured but can be fatal if not treated in time.