BANGKOK, Feb. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Thailand has been on high alert of outbreak of dengue with more cases reported in the country's south.

    About 1,500 cases of dengue have been reported since the beginning of the year, mostly in the southern provinces, newspaper Nation on Wednesday quoted disease control official as saying.

    The figure is 30 percent higher than reported cases over the same period of last year, said Kitti Pramattthol, chief of the Disease Control Department's dengue control section.

    There has only been one death in Thailand so far.

    Though the situation is not severe, the authorities thought the number was alarming, for the raining season is yet to come, when it is best season for the disease to spread.

    The way of how dengue spreads is the other concern of authorities. The main factor in the outbreak's spread could be the disease's epidemiological circle.

    "This year it is at the peak of its circle," said Kitti.

    Public health authorities also suspected a foreign type of dengue virus, or Stereotype-4, probably spread from neighboring Malaysia, said the Nation report.

    "We are gathering further information to confirm the hypothesis that the virus could have been carried in from Malaysia," Kitti said.

    The doctor stressed that the tsunami had nothing to do with the dengue outbreak in the South.

    In the worst tsunami-hit southern province of Pangnga, no case of dengue has been found, he said.

    Hospitals now have been alerted about the situation so that they could screen patients, and disease control units and equipment have also been dispatched to deal with severe cases. Enditem