Dengue: Cape Verde

[Sally Furniss]

Dengue Fever Spreads to Cape Verde for First Time, WHO Reports
By Simeon Bennett
<!-- WARNING: #foreach: $wnstory.ATTS: null at /bb/data/web/templates/webmacro_en/washingtonstory.wm:429.2 --> <!-- WARNING: #foreach: $wnstory.ATTS: null at /bb/data/web/templates/webmacro_en/washingtonstory.wm:443.19 --> Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Dengue fever, the deadly mosquito- borne disease for which there is no specific drug or vaccine, is spreading in Cape Verde for the first time, the World Health Organization said.

The first samples of 3,367 suspected cases from four islands in the West African archipelago have been confirmed to be a strain of the dengue virus, the Geneva-based WHO said in an Oct. 30 statement on its Web site. No deaths were reported in the statement.

The agency said it has sent a team to help investigate and combat the outbreak.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simeon Bennett in Singapore at sbennett9@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 1, 2009 23:01 EST

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=a1R.amI6JLDI

 

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Dengue epidemic paralyses Cape Verde

Dengue epidemic paralyses Cape Verde

Source: http://www.afrol.com/articles/34631

Dengue epidemic paralyses Cape Verde

afrol News, 5 November - A first-ever outbreak of dengue fever in Cape Verde, already causing four deaths and infecting 9,000 persons, has caused panic on the archipelago. Tomorrow, everybody is urged to kill mosquitoes instead of going to work, and both the police and army are sent out to root out the disease.

Cape Verdean Jos? Maria Neves has used the last two days to demonstrate his ability to act. The nation is gearing up to tomorrow's great national campaign of cleaning and eradication of the mosquito that carries the dengue virus. The entire population is asked to participate in the campaign, rather than going to work tomorrow.

But action is already in place. In the capital Praia, the worst struck municipality on the archipelago, a police force of 500 men and women and parts of the Cape Verdean army are on the streets to eradicate the dangerous mosquitoes.

PM Neves has also assured foreign help to root out the new epidemic. The World Health Organisation already has shipped staff to Praia, helping to organise the fight against dengue fever. Further, Mr Neves today called on "friendly countries", in particular Portugal, Spain and Cuba, to send emergency aid, including hospital equipment and staff to treat the increasing numbers of infected.

The epidemic has indeed come as a bad surprise to the archipelago, where the tropical mosquito-borne disease never has been registered before. And it has spread as a bushfire. Registered infections are rising at a record rate of one thousand - a day. The latest numbers released in Praia are 8,799 infections. 851 out of them are from the capital.

Also, mortality rates are starting to be significant. Only two days ago, the first death attributed to dengue fever was registered. Today, the number is at four diseased.

The population has been shocked and traumatised by the sudden spread of this unknown disease. The epidemic comes at the same time as swine flue was starting to spread rapidly on the archipelago.

But Prime Minister Neves also was obliged to act forcefully for economic reasons. Already yesterday, the Cape Verdean government had no choice but issuing a warning to tourists to take extra precautions due to the outbreak. The Portuguese Foreign Ministry - representing one of Cape Verde's main tourist markets - has already issued a travel warning on Cape Verde.

For the archipelago, such a blow to the tourism industry could spell significant economic consequences. Tourism has developed into the backbone of Cape Verde's economic boom, and the archipelago was aiming at becoming "the new Canary Islands" off the West African coast. With the occurrence of tropical diseases, mass tourism however seems unrealistic.

With a preliminary anti-dengue budget of 40 million escudos (euro 360,000) the Neves government therefore aims at nothing less than the total eradication of dengue fever from the archipelago. For that to happen, massive campaigns to eradicate mosquitoes have to succeed. On the negative side, however, the disease was allowed to spread to almost all islands before being detected.

Dengue fever is the most common mosquito-borne viral disease of humans. In recent years it has become a major public health concern in the tropics. The geographical spread of both the mosquito and the virus has led to the global resurgence of epidemic dengue fever in the past 25 years, according to WHO. There is no known cure to the disease.

By staff writers

? afrol News

 

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Re: Dengue epidemic paralyses Cape Verde

Re: Dengue epidemic paralyses Cape Verde

Source: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L9518601.htm


Medics fly in to tackle Cape Verde dengue outbreak
09 Nov 2009 19:04:49 GMT
Source: Reuters

PRAIA, Nov 9 (Reuters) - International medical teams have landed in Cape Verde to fight a dengue fever epidemic that has killed six and is suspected to have hit 12,000 in a country of just over 400,000 inhabitants, authorities said on Monday.

France, Portugal, Switzerland and Thailand have flown in 29 medical staff with equipment and medication following an international appeal for assistance issued last week by the West African island state and the World Health Organisation.

"In the last 24 hours, 656 cases have occurred of which 466 were registered in the capital Praia," Maria de Lurdes Monteiro, director of Cape Verde's National Epidemiological Surveillance Centre, told Reuters.

There are presently 76 confirmed cases of haemorrhagic fever which is the most lethal form of dengue, Monteiro said. In its normal form dengue has symptoms similar to malaria.

Dengue fever is transmitted by the bite of infected female Aedes mosquitoes. It is the first occurrence of an epidemic in the archipelago. The first cases were reported at the end of September and the disease has now spread across all the islands.

"There is no treatment and no preventive vaccine for dengue fever," Dr Oussmane Faye of the Institut Pasteur laboratories in Dakar, told Reuters.

"The main method of fighting it is by destroying the vector which is often located in used tyres, abandoned tins and other trash," Faye said.

Over the weekend the Cape Verde government called for a national clean up campaign to eliminate all possible reproduction areas for the Aedes mosquitoes.

 

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Re: Dengue epidemic paralyses Cape Verde

Re: Dengue epidemic paralyses Cape Verde

Source: http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EDIS-7XQNBE?OpenDocument

Cape Verde: Emergency funds released to tackle biggest ever dengue fever outbreak in West Africa

Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Date: 12 Nov 2009


The unprecedented outbreak of dengue fever in Cape Verde has prompted the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to release 153,900 Swiss francs ( 152,100 US dollars/ 101,800 euro) from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund to support the Red Cross Society of Cape Verde in its response to the serious epidemic of dengue fever that has been affecting the country since September.

"There is a need to act quickly to limit the consequences of this outbreak, the first recorded in Cape Verde and the biggest outbreak ever registered in West Africa," says Anders Naucler, the IFRC's health coordinator for West and Central Africa currently in Praia, the capital city of the archipelago state off the coast of West Africa.

"Over the coming days we will mobilize and train more than 450 volunteers to provide information to local communities on how the disease is transmitted, refer sick patients to the local health centers and help with cleaning and disinfection of public places such as hospitals," he adds.

The Red Cross Society of Cape Verde has been active since the first cases emerged in September, liaising closely with the ministry of Health and UN agencies. The outbreak intensified at the start of November. As of 12 November, some 13,700 cases (not all laboratory-tested) have been recorded. Between 700 and 800 new cases are being registered every day, with at least 4 of the 9 inhabited islands being infected and the majority of cases in and around the capital, Praia.

So far at least 6 people have died and 109 people have been diagnosed with dengue haemorrhagic fever, the most severe form of the disease which can be fatal if not properly treated. Hospitals in Praia have been overloaded to the extent that tents have been installed to provide additional space outdoors for the urgent treatment of patients.

"The epidemic affecting Cape Verde is unfortunately similar to the situation we are increasingly facing in developing countries. As we highlighted in our recent report "The epidemic divide", epidemics are still a major public health problem that is not adequately addressed at the global level,"explains Dr Tammam Aloudat, the IFRC's emergency health specialist. "The risk for seasonal cases of dengue recurring in a country such as Cape Verde which was not previously affected is now real and there is a need to act quickly to limit the consequences and to prevent the disease from further spreading, especially as some 55 new cases have now also been reported in Senegal," he adds.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-born illness with similar symptoms to those of malaria. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected female Aedes mosquitoes. The disease is mainly present in South East Asia and Latin America. However, it is now also affecting Africa. Even though its mortality rate of 18,000 people every year worldwide is relatively low, the nine million annual cases of dengue fever recorded is a real burden on communities that cannot continue their normal life, causing severe social and economical consequences, and straining over-stretched health services to their limits.

For further information, or to set up interviews, please contact:

In Praia, Cape Verde Moustapha Diallo, communications officer, Tel: +238 95 83 460

In Dakar Noora Kero, communications manager for West and Central Africa, Tel: +221-77-918 22 67

In Geneva Jean-Luc Martinage, communications officer, global health , Tel: + 41 79 217 3386

 

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Re: Dengue: Cape Verde

Source: http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/cape-verde-battles-dengue-epidemic-2010010741432.html

Cape Verde battles dengue epidemic

Cape-Verde has since September last year been battling an outbreak of dengue fever and there are fears that it could get worse with the onset of the rains.

From late September 2009, the dengue epidemic has affected some 30,000 people, although no deaths have been recorded, thanks to the swift, efficient emergency measures that were taken to fight it.

The health authorities had, after the first case of the illness was confirmed by the Dakar Pasteur Institute, taken the necessary emergency measures to inform the population about how they could be contaminated and precautionary steps to avoid any contact with the virus.

But in with the onset of the rains and the proliferation of ponds and marshes associated with poor basic hygienic conditions in the main urban areas of the archipelago, especially in Praia and its surrounding areas, favoura ble conditions have been created for the illness to spread rapidly across several islands.

Other factors that were possibly responsible for this epidemic have been the regular influx of people and goods between Cape Verde and Brazil, the South American country where the disease is endemic.

The fact that the dengue fever, which is caused by mosquito bite, is so widespread, has prompted the Cape Verde government to ask the international community for help in order to efficiently fight the epidemic, which has mostly affected the southern islands of the archipelago - Santiago, Fogo, Maio, and Brava.

The Prime Minister, Jos? Maria Neves, who himself has been hit by the disease, has taken the initiative to launch a vast clean-up campaign in order to rid the country of possible hotbeds of mosquito vectors of the disease.

The Cape Verde population massively joined the government's initiative, which made it possible to collect thousands of tons of waste in the cities of Praia, Mindelo (Sao Vicente), Sao Filipe (Fogo) and in the island of Sal, the main urban centres of the country.

Institutions like the World Health Organization (WHO), International Medical Association (IMA), Doctors Without Borders and such countries as Portugal, France, Brazil, Spain, and the United States have promptly responded to the calls of the authorities by sending medicines, equipments and specialized medical staff.

The Cape Verde diaspora in several parts of the world have mobilized themselves to support the authorities in the fight against the epidemic. Such action as music shows with the participation of artists from Cape Verde and others have helped collect several tons of medicines and equipment that have been sent to the archipelago to fight against the disease.

With the support of the international community, the government of Cape Verde has immediately equipped hospitals with laboratories for a quick detection of the virus, a process that used to take several days because the medical test was made in the Dakar Pasteur Institute.

The government has also taken the initiative to set up a commission led by the Prime Minister and charged to draw up plans and the follow-up in the fight against the disease's vectors so as to prevent new infections.

As might be expected, the epidemic has eventually had a negative impact on the influx of tourists to Cape Verde. Sources linked to the sector indicate the alarming message passed abroad by a certain media convinced many tourists to suspend their scheduled vacation in the archipelago.

However, this drop in tourists, particularly late October and November last year, was reversed in December, above all during the end of year celebrations when thousands of touris ts chose Cape-Verde to live the first hours of 2010.

Cape Verde President Pedro Pires, in his New Year message, said despite the unpredictability of the disease, the national health services and their managerial staff had been up to the task

However, Mr. Pires has underlined that the effort that has been made in fighting the disease should be stepped up because it the safest way to stop the disease from being endemic in Cape Verde.

Praia - Pana 07/01/2010

By Carvalho Santos, PANA Correspondent