Peru is Reeling from Record Case Counts of Dengue Fever. What's Driving the Outbreak?

 

(Ernesto Benavides, 2023)

(June 21, 2023) Lima, Peru – For Lorena Vigo, getting dengue, the virus once known as "breakbone fever," was like no illness she had previously experienced. On top of the headache, upset stomach and aching joints, she bled from her gums after coming down last month with the mosquito-borne virus in Piura. That's the city of 600,000 residents in northern Peru that is the epicenter of the Andean nation's record-breaking dengue outbreak.

Peru's unprecedented outbreak has been driven by unusually warm and rainy conditions on Peru's desert coast, first triggered by Yaku, a tropical cyclone not normally seen in this part of the Pacific, and then a localized "coastal" El Niño effect of warmer ocean waters. Both hit in April and May. Scientists are reluctant to finger climate change as the culprit for this outbreak. But the combination of this year's Yaku, the coastal El Niño and Peru's unusual weather have created conditions that let the mosquitoes that spread the disease thrive.

Article Link : Peru is Reeling from Record Case Counts of Dengue Fever. What's Driving the Outbreak?