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Texas experiences first dengue outbreak in almost 20 years

skeeter

October 6, 1999
Web posted at: 2:58 p.m. EST (1858 GMT)

From Correspondent Charles Zewe

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (CNN) -- The biggest outbreak of "dengue fever" to hit south Texas in almost 20 years has sickened more than a dozen people in the border town of Laredo. Epidemiologists there have confirmed 14 cases of the viral illness, which is spread by mosquitoes and nicknamed "breakbone fever." Over 100 cases have been identified just across the Mexican border and many more are suspected.

Dengue is very painful, but rarely fatal.

"The pain in the bones is so great that they feel like they're breaking and hence the nickname," said Julie Rawlings, an epidemiologist with the Texas Department of Health.

Over the border, in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, 104 cases have been confirmed and thousands of others are suspected.

"Many people don't know the complications of dengue and maybe think it's something like flu," said Dr. Bernardo Ramirez Mante, the Health Chief of Nuevo Laredo.

Dengue is carried primarily by Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes. Infected areas are being fogged with insecticide, and health teams are going house-to-house urging residents to clean up and throw out old tires which collect rainwater and are perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

But Texas alone generates 25 million used tires a year, most of which end up in dumps on both sides of the Rio Grande.

As fall sets in, temperatures in Nuevo Laredo are expected to drop into the 50s. It isn't cold, but health officials hope it will be cool enough to slow mosquito reproduction and put an end to the Dengue outbreak.



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