Feminine Aedes aegypti mosquito as she was within the means of acquiring a “blood meal.”
Puerto Rico has declared a public well being emergency amid an ongoing outbreak of dengue infections, a mosquito-spread viral an infection that may trigger fever, aches, rash, vomiting, and, in about 5 % of circumstances, a extreme illness marked by inside bleeding and shock.
The US territory has tallied 549 circumstances for the reason that begin of the yr, representing a 140 % improve in contrast with circumstances tallied at this level final yr, in accordance with the territory’s well being division. The Related Press reported that greater than 340 of the 549 circumstances have been hospitalized.
In 2023, the island nation of greater than 3.2 million individuals had over 1,000 circumstances of dengue all year long.
However this yr’s circumstances are rising quickly, main well being officers to warn residents to be vigilant and take prevention measures. That features carrying insect repellent and draining or treating any standing water the place mosquitoes can breed. The mosquitoes that transmit dengue—Aedes aegypti—appear to favor breeding in synthetic containers, akin to flower pots, buckets, water drums, vases, plastic containers of any form, the interior rings of discarded vehicle tires, and trash basically. They will breed in tiny quantities of water, akin to in bottle caps.
Puerto Rico’s outbreak of dengue is an element of a bigger regional development, the island’s well being division famous. Final yr, the Americas noticed the very best variety of dengue circumstances ever recorded, totaling 4,565,911, in accordance with the Pan American Well being Group (PAHO), a division of the World Well being Group. Up to now this yr, the area has reported 3,578,414 circumstances, together with 1,039 deaths. The majority of the circumstances are in Brazil, which has reported over 2.9 million circumstances thus far. Paraguay has reported over 191,000 circumstances, and Argentina has reported over 134,000 circumstances.
In a December 2023 threat evaluation, the PAHO deemed the chance to human well being from dengue to be “excessive” within the area. The report famous that the consequences of local weather change are driving greater rainfall, greater temperatures, and extra humidity, permitting A. aegypti to broaden into new areas and improve breeding. A. aegypti are already present in a lot of South America, Central America, and the southeastern US.
This put up was up to date to incorporate extra case tallies.
