NEW DELHI : New Delhi's top health official on Friday blamed preparations for next month's Commonwealth Games for an outbreak of dengue fever that has caused concern among nations participating in the event.

"Games projects have been delayed and as a result the diggings carried out have turned into mosquito breeding grounds," V.K. Monga, chairman of Delhi Municipal Corporation's health committee, told AFP.

"This is not the right season for the Games because dengue is highest at this time of the year," he said as the number of cases in the Indian capital rose to 1,580 since July.

Doctors and hospital staff say the figure is a major underestimate.

Much of central Delhi has resembled a building site in recent months with dug-up pavements, unfinished metro stations and muddy construction work at venues being hurriedly completed for the Games, which open on October 3.

Monga said the dengue outbreak, the worst since 2006, had been exacerbated by the heaviest monsoon rains in 15 years.

"The main area of our focus now is the athletes' village because of its location near the Yamuna river which makes it difficult for anti-dengue spraying," he said.

The river has inundated low-lying areas around the village, where larvae-eating fish have been released into a pond in a bid to protect athletes and team officials.

Dengue, which is transmitted to humans by female Aedes mosquitoes, causes a flu-like illness for most victims. One strain of it can cause internal bleeding. Four people have died of dengue in Delhi this year.

Australian High Commissioner (ambassador) to India Peter Varghese said Thursday that a travel advisory about the dengue fever outbreak had been issued, but stressed it would not deter athletes from travelling to Delhi.

- AFP/ir