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DHAKA, Sept 1 (AFP) - At least 41 people have died and more than 5,000 been taken ill from dengue fever in the past two months in Bangladesh, officials said Sunday.

A health ministry spokesman said with the death of four more patients over the past few days, the toll stood at 41 with more than 5,000 reported ill.

"However, the number of new patients appear to be coming down gradually," he said.

Some doctors said the number could be much higher as many cases in remote areas might have not been reported or detected.

Breeding grounds of the aedes mosquito, which carries the disease, have to be eliminated or new cases will continue, an army doctor attached to a Dhaka hospital told local cable television network Channel I.

Military medics were ordered by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to help hospitals in Dhaka contain the disease.

The Dhaka office of the World Health Organisation has termed the dengue outbreak an epidemic, but the Bangladesh health ministry has refused to accept the label.

Doctors blamed the outbreak on a dry spell following days of rain, ideal conditions for dengue-carrying mosquitoes to breed.

Characterised by painful joints, fever and a rash, dengue symptoms usually begin within a week of a mosquito's bite and last for seven days.

In 2000, Bangladesh announced a five-year action plan to contain dengue fever after 5,551 people contracted the disease and 93 died.

A dengue outbreak last year claimed 44 lives.

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