Due to an increase in dengue fever infections brought on by a scorching wave and persistent rains, Peru issued a health emergency affecting the majority of the nation on Monday.
Health Minister Cesar Vasquez announced on Monday that the number of virus-related deaths in the South American country had reached 32 so far this year.
According to Vasquez, the total number of instances increased from 24,981 in the first seven weeks of the year to 31,300 in the first eight weeks.
The move to declare a health emergency was adopted by the Peruvian government’s cabinet on Monday, hours after Vasquez had warned media that a dengue spread was “imminent.”
“There are 20 regions (out of 25) that will be declared in a health emergency due to dengue,” Vasquez said in an earlier interview on local radio station RPP.
The declaration boosts resources to health responders in the affected areas.
Dengue, largely transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes, causes symptoms such as fever, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and body aches.
Most of the cases seen so far in Peru have been in the country’s north, where hospitals are already overwhelmed.
The nation’s typical dengue response has been “overtaken” by factors such as climate, Vasquez said.
“The weather has created a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes to reproduce more quickly and become a more frequent vector of the disease,” he said.
Last year, 428 people in Peru died from dengue, with 269,216 infected, according to official data.
Since 2023, the Andean nation has faced high temperatures and heavy rains due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, which has warmed the seas off Peru’s coastline.
