Nicaragua’s Ministry of Health has issued an epidemiological alert over the spread of dengue fever, which has killed at least eight people this year and is suspected in some 55,000 cases.
The alert is due to the spread of the dengue virus, which in the third week of July showed an increase of 232% over the same week of 2018. According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Nicaragua is the third country with the highest incidence of the disease, after Brazil and Colombia.
Vice president and first lady, Rosario Murillo, informed the official media that the measure was adopted “to fight more effectively against the mosquito that transmits dengue, chikungunya and zika in our country.”
Murillo said that the Ministry of Health has confirmed 2,232 cases positive so far in 2019, out of a total of 55,289 suspected cases.
Murillo said Wednesday that the government is committed to confronting the spread of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits the virus. Government workers stepped up fumigation efforts and spread out to destroy its breeding grounds.
The mosquito breeds in clean water and is particularly prevalent in urban areas where open cisterns or containers collecting rainwater can pose a problem.
According to PAHO, Nicaragua has the most suspected dengue cases.
Article originally appeared on Today Nicaragua and is republished here with permission.
