Cubans Urged To Join Fight Against Dengue

HAVANA – Cubans are called upon to support the government’s efforts to fight dengue in the summer months that usually see a spike in the disease, local media reported Thursday.

Juan Ramon Vazquez, head of anti-dengue division of the Public Health Ministry, asked Cubans to allow sanitarians to fumigate homes, factories and other sites, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

Summer heat, rain and humidity create ideal conditions for the propagation of mosquitoes that carry dengue or yellow fever, and the ministry had detected such mosquitoes in 23 provinces with capital Havana being the most concentrated area.

Cuba has been fighting dengue for more than a decade, but achieved little success in keeping mosquito population in check during the rainy summer months from June to August.

The island nation suffered its worst dengue outbreak in 1981 when the disease affected 10,000 people and killed 158.

The Pan-American Health Organisation warned recently of an increase in dengue outbreaks in Central America and the Caribbean in the second half of 2012. – BERNAMA

dengue cases