Burkina Faso’s health ministry has declared a dengue fever epidemic amid the deadliest outbreak in years in which more than 200 people have died and new cases are rising sharply.
There have been 50,478 suspected cases and 214 deaths of the mosquito-borne illness this year, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, mostly in the urban centres of the capital Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso. About 20% of the cases and deaths were recorded last week alone, it said.
Dengue kills an estimated 20,000 people worldwide each year. The World Health Organization this month warned that the disease would become a major threat in new parts of Africa as warmer temperatures create the conditions for the mosquitoes carrying the infection to spread.
