DENGUE A GROWING MENACE

"The Health Services of Morelos . . ., in coordination with the Board of Health of the Emiliano Zapata Town Council, grant the presentation precertificate to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses . . . for [the Witnesses'] teamwork in achieving clean spaces free of breeding grounds for dengue-bearing mosquitoes."

AUTHORITIES in Mexico have good reason to be concerned about disease-bearing mosquitoes.  The pesky little insects can transmit a dangerous virus that causes dengue, a potentially life-threatening disease that afflicted over 57,000 people in Mexico in 2010. Mexico is just one of more than 100 countries where dengue is now endemic. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) current estimates that there may be 50 million cases of dengue worldwide every year and that about two fifths of the world's population  are at risk of contracting the disease. Accordingly, health authorities have initiated  programs to eradicate the white-spotted Aedes aegypti mosquito, one of the insects that transmits the dengue virus.

Dengue is most prevalent in tropical and subtropical climates, especially during the rainy season and after a natural disaster such as a hurricane or flooding.  This is because the female Aedes mosquito lays its eggs wherever it can find standing water.  Since people throughout Latin American and the Caribbean collect and store household water in concrete tanks, health experts urge them to keep to keep their tanks covered.  This prevents the tanks from becoming breeding grounds for mosquitoes. People also restrict the spread of these mosquitoes when they keep their yard clean of old tires, cans, flowerpots, plastic containers-anything that might hold stagnant water. 

Next time: DENGUE A GROWING MENACE-Identifying and Coping With Dengue

From the AWAKE! magazine, 2011