Peru is reeling under the worst dengue outbreak on record for the country that could intensify further as an El Niño climate phenomenon brings torrential rains driving the death toll this year past 200 with over 130,000 recorded cases, the health ministry said. The country’s health authorities have pointed towards the climate phenomena, El Niño, as one of the key drivers of the surge in cases.
A worker fumigates a house against the Aedes aegypti mosquito to prevent the spread of dengue fever in a neighborhood in Piura, northern Peru.
El Niño- cyclical warming of the world’s oceans and weather- has fueled tropical cyclones in the Pacific, bringing rainfall and flood risk in the region. Owing to the increase in rainfall, mosquitoes have become a menace due to the accumulation of water in the cities.
Health officials have restrained residents from preserving water in open containers. “Dengue kills,” Peru’s health minister Rosa Gutiérrez warned, further adding, “Because of that, help me eliminate mosquito breeding sites.”
El Nio has officially begun, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), after a colder La Nia pattern dominated the previous three years. Similar to the most recent powerful El Nio, which was observed in 2016 during the world’s record-breaking hottest year, this year may be especially concerning.
“We’re in unprecedented territory,” Michelle L’Heureux, meteorologist at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center reported.
Meanwhile, Peru announced a two-month “state of emergency” across 18 out of 24 regions mentioning the reason as any “imminent danger from heavy rainfall” this year and the forthcoming.
