Since the beginning of 2009, several South American countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru, are experiencing dengue outbreaks. The dengue outbreaks have emerged after the heavy rains during the first two months of the year, increasing the breeding grounds for the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
This bulletin is being issued for information only, and reflects the current situation and details available at this time. The Argentine Red Cross, Brazilian Red Cross, and Paraguayan Red Cross Societies, with the support of the Federation, have determined that currently external assistance is not required, and are therefore not seeking funding or other assistance from donors at this time. The Bolivian Red Cross has received DREF funding totalling CHF 140,437 and that the Peruvian Red Cross is assessing the need for an application for DREF funding. Should the situation continue to deteriorate, further actions will be considered in orderto support the National Societies in the affected countries.
The Situation
In the Americas, over 30 countries have notified a total of 4,332,731 cases of dengue within the period of 2001- 2007. Within the same period, 106,037 cases of hemorrhagic dengue fever (HDF) have been reported, and 1,299 people have died because of the disease.
Between January and February 2009, different dengue outbreaks have been reported in the Southern Cone region and Andean region of South America. At the moment, there are no official figures of dengue cases for Argentina and Peru. The following tables details the number of cases recorded in Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay:
