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Given its close link with both temperature and rainfall, it is possible to forecast the outbreak of dengue. But for such forecasting to be effective, it should be based on models specific to different climatic zones in the country, a new study has shown. Scientists have reached this conclusion after evaluating the relationship of climatic factors to the spread of dengue in different climatic zones in India Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Kerala. They focussed on changes in a factor called extrinsic incubation period (EIP) of the dengue virus, by taking into account daily and monthly mean temperatures in these areas.