Dengue fever is on the rise in Mali, the place officers are reporting new infections and deaths from the virus this week
ByBABA AHMED Related Press
December 6, 2023, 8:03 AM
BAMAKO, Mali — Dengue fever is on the rise in Mali, the place officers are reporting new infections and deaths from the virus this week.
Mali’s director normal of well being and public hygiene, Dr. Cheick Amadou Tidiane Traore, instructed The Related Press in an interview Wednesday that his division had counted 21 deaths and 600 circumstances of the virus as of Monday.
Dengue is a viral an infection unfold by mosquitoes that principally causes flu-like sickness. In extreme circumstances, the illness could cause joint ache, swollen glands, extreme bleeding and dying. There isn’t a particular therapy protocol, however two vaccines have been advisable by the World Well being Group for nations that endure common outbreaks.
The Malian authorities has not but formally launched any figures on the illness to most people, nor has it introduced whether or not or not it has requested assist from the World Well being Group. With the nation in political transition already dealing with the specter of armed teams linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and numerous displaced individuals, a brand new epidemic of dengue fever dangers worsening the humanitarian state of affairs.
“Dengue fever can also be current in Burkina Faso and Senegal, and we have to elevate public consciousness,” Traore stated.
WHO has reported file circumstances of dengue up to now this yr in Bangladesh and the Americas, which have seen greater than 300,000 circumstances and 4 million infections respectively. In August, the federal government of Chad reported the nation’s first-ever outbreak of dengue, with dozens of confirmed circumstances. Globally, scientists estimate there are about 96 million dengue infections yearly.