State of emergency in Marshall Islands as dengue outbreak spirals

Warmer, wetter weather boosting spread of mosquito-borne infectious diseases

Marshall Islands declare state of emergency as dengue fever outbreak spreads

Health officials in Majuro, Marshall Islands have declared a state of emergency as the outbreak of dengue fever cases doubles in two days.

Disaster Calendar 2011 – October 29

[October 29, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,600 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Majuro, Marshall Islands. The first case of dengue fever, an infectious tropical disease, was diagnosed at Majuro Hospital last week. The reported cases have now spiraled to at least 63, doubling in the past two days.
• Dengue fever is a virus-caused disease that is spread by mosquitoes.
• The disease’s flu-like symptoms include fatigue, fever, headache, nausea, swollen lymph nodes, vomiting, muscle aches, joint pains and a skin rash that resembles measles.
• The infection can develops into the life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever, or result in dengue shock syndrome, leading to dangerously low blood pressure.
• Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is a severe, potentially deadly infection spread by certain species of mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus).
• Symptoms of DHF are similar to  to those of dengue fever, but after several days the symptoms are followed by a shock -like state.
• Shock could cause death.
• DHF has killed hundreds of people in Pakistan, India, China and other SE Asian countries this year so far.
• Increases in temperature, precipitation, and humidity are exponentially boosting vector abundance and disease incidences throughout the world.

• Lahore, Pakistan. At least 31,036 cases of dengue fever have been recorded in Lahore alone, a report said.
•  Pakistan’s Health Department has “confirmed four deaths, including two from Lahore, due to Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) during the last 24 hours, which brought total figure of deaths to 290 in Punjab and 253 in Lahore.”
• “The dengue fever claimed four more lives on Friday, which brought the death count to 317 in the provincial metropolis.” Said the report.
• USA. Mosquito-Borne Dengue Fever Threat Spreading in the Americas: Dengue Fever Vulnerability in the United States

Dengue vulnerability in the United States. Among the social and environmental factors that increase community vulnerability to dengue and other infectious diseases are poor municipal infrastructure and frequent storm damage to homes. Red areas of the map show U.S. counties that have reported the presence of one or both of the mosquito species (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) that can potentially transmit dengue fever; blue regions highlight the area encompassing most of the positive counties. Numbers of suspected cases of dengue infection reported from 1995–2005, inclusive, are shown below each state name. Reported counts of suspected dengue fever cases are also included for the six Mexican states that border the United States. Source: NRDC

• Global Impact. Dengue fever and its complications cause about 100 million infections, resulting in  500,000 hospitalizations and 22,000 deaths annually in over 100 countries.
• Dengue incidences have multiplied by 30-fold in less than 5 decades globally.
• The worst hit areas are India, Pakistan, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and Africa.
• Currently, about 2.5 people are at risk of for dengue because of climate change.
• “Epidemic outbreaks during 2007 in Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Bolivia, and Guyana affected hundreds of thousands,” NRDC report said.
• About 56 percent of Americans (175 million people, as of posting) live in counties where one or both of the mosquito species that can transmit dengue fever have become established.

Related Links

• Dengue fever toll climbs to 162
• Measles Outbreaks Continue in Canada, New Zealand, Europe

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities  (EDRO Forecast)
• 2011 Much More Disastrous: FIRE-EARTH Forecast
• Global Disasters in 2011 Could Impact 1/3 to 1/2 of the Human Population  (FIRE-EARTH Forecast)
• Back to the Primordial Future
• Mass Die-offs  (FIRE-EARTH Forecast)

• 2011 Disaster Calendar – October
• 2011 Disaster Calendar – September
• 2011 Disaster Calendar – August
• 2010 Disaster Calendar 
• 2011 Disaster Calendar