• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• Health and Medicine
• 08 / 30 / 2010

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08/29/2010. Cuban health authorities warned of the presence of dengue fever-carrying mosquitos in 23 of the country''s 169 municipalities, at a time when a high incidence of the disease is being reported.

The alert came after authorities reported that this year to date, 70 cases of imported dengue have been detected, and 25 cases cases currently exist, 10 of them in the capital, according to Granma newspaper.

Five Cuban provinces and 23 municipalities reported a high level of infestation of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, creating a favorable environment for a dengue epidemic outbreak, the newspaper said.

The situation is more serious considering that one of the largest dengue epidemics has broken out in Latin America, with a reported 1.3 million people infected, and 600 dead.

The Granma article said that Cuba is having problems with maintaining hygiene in state institutions and a lack of cooperation in the community.

The fact that Cuba has reported no cases of the hemorrhagic strain of dengue or deaths from dengue for the last three years could generate the false belief that nobody dies from dengue, the article added.

PL Translation Staff