Peru sees record-breaking dengue outbreak, intensified by El Niño

Peru is seeing the country’s worst dengue outbreak ever on record and is expected to intensify with the torrential rains brought about by the El Niño climate phenomenon. 

There are over 130,000 recorded cases of the mosquito-spread disease and more than 200 deaths, the South American country’s health ministry said on Thursday. The figure broke the previous record set in 2017 when 68,290 cases were reported, as well as 89 deaths. 

According to health authorities, the number of cases this year significantly increased due to the natural climate phenomenon, El Niño. Authorities continue to expect the number of cases to rise.

El Niño is a weather cycle that brings about unusual warming of surface waters in the Pacific Ocean, changing the speed and strength of ocean currents. The temperature changes caused by phenomena tend to create cyclones and torrential rainfall. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officially declared that El Niño was underway on June 8. 

Peruvian President Dina Boularte on Thursday declared a two-month state of emergency in 18 of the country’s 24 regions in order to deal with the “imminent danger from heavy rainfall.”

Authorities believe that the rainfall brought about by El Niño will cause more accumulation of water in cities, creating the perfect conditions for mosquito breeding grounds. 

Dengue is a tropical disease that is spread through aedes aegypti mosquitoes, including high fever, headache, vomiting, and muscle and joint pain in those who contract it. 

Peruvian officials are urging residents to abstain from storing water in open water containers in hopes to prevent the number of mosquitoes from increasing. 

"Dengue kills," said Health Minister Rosa Gutiérrez in a Tuesday statement. "Because of that, help me eliminate mosquito breeding sites."