Health

19 dead in Bolivia dengue outbreak, 31,000 affected

by nehalarya | February 27, 2009 at 01:45 am

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Bolivia is in the midst of a health emergency after three people died from dengue hemorrhagic fever. More than 1,000 Bolivians are thought to have contracted the mosquito-borne disease since November. Dengue has also recently been a problem in Brazil.

In Bolivia's worst national outbreak in a decade, 19 people have died from dengue fever since January and 31,000 people have been affected, official estimates have showed.

Twelve people died from the disease in the tropical eastern region of Santa Cruz, three others died in central Bolivia, two others in the Andean west and one in the capital city of La Paz, according to an official toll cited by a television channel on Thursday.

A Bolivian national died on arriving in neighboring Peru, and Health Minister Ramiro Tapia said that one additional death brought the overall death toll to 19.

A total of 30,870 dengue cases have been counted, 71 per cent of them in Santa Cruz, -- the region most affected by the outbreak, where authorities have declared a health emergency, Beni, Pando and Cochabamba departments. More than 15,000 troops have been mobilised to assist health teams.