![[Yemen] Teams of health workers are spraying provinces affected by Dengue fever.](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/20053230.jpg.webp?itok=5m5ZdtaE "Teams of health workers are spraying provinces affected by dengue fever.")
The death toll in the dengue fever outbreak in Yemen has risen to 12 and some 185 people have been infected so far, according to the public health ministry.
Dengue fever, which can be treated, is an infectious disease carried by mosquitoes and is found mostly during and shortly after the rainy season in tropical and subtropical areas.
"The treatment operation to fight and spray mosquitoes is continuing in the areas affected by this disease in Hudaidah province, [226 km southwest of the capital Sana]," head of the national centre for control in the public health ministry, Dr Jamal Emran, told IRIN.
At the start of March, at least 124 people were infected with the illness in the province and there were seven deaths.
"Recent health reports received from field treatment teams confirm that the curve of this epidemic disease is starting to go down compared with the early days of discovering this outbreak," Emran told IRIN.
"We cannot guess when this epidemic will stop spreading, despite the huge efforts of the treatment and control operation. The successful fight against this disease requires the public’s comprehensive cooperation with the authorities' efforts. Without this collaboration we can't reach our aims of fighting this disease," he explained.
As part of the operation, more than 50 medically equipped cars with over 250 technicians were dispatched to the affected areas in one of the largest medical campaigns in the country's history. It included wiping out mosquitoes, filling swamps where they breed and disinfecting areas where mosquitoes live to stop transmission of the disease.
Dengue fever can be caused by any one of four types of the dengue virus: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4. A person can be infected by at least two, if not all four types at different times during a life span, but only once by the same type.
Health authorities have asked people to cooperate by taking precautions and staying away from the mosquitoes breeding in places inside and outside their houses and to avoid drinking dirty water. Teams of people have been spraying homes in order to stop the spread of dengue fever.
Zabid city in Hudaidah province was the first area infected by the fever last December, then it spread slowly in other areas and moved to neighbouring provinces.
Field workers from the health ministry told IRIN that Zabid was close to being clear of this disease after a strong campaign was launched against it, where treatment took place in more than 54,000 houses from January to mid-March.
“The use of stored water is still an obstacle faced in the treatment process because this water is considered as one of the major sources of breeding mosquitoes. We cannot solve this problem without a water substitute, by providing healthy drinking water for people,” general director of the Tehama centre for control, Dr Mohammed Saleh al-Mehdar, told IRIN.
“The problem facing the health ministry is that some cases of this disease have been discovered in a lot of parts of Hajja province [127 km west of Sana] and in another five provinces like Taiz, Raymah, Dhamar, Mahwit and Saadah,” he added.
Dengue fever, which can be treated, is an infectious disease carried by mosquitoes and is found mostly during and shortly after the rainy season in tropical and subtropical areas.
"The treatment operation to fight and spray mosquitoes is continuing in the areas affected by this disease in Hudaidah province, [226 km southwest of the capital Sana]," head of the national centre for control in the public health ministry, Dr Jamal Emran, told IRIN.
At the start of March, at least 124 people were infected with the illness in the province and there were seven deaths.
"Recent health reports received from field treatment teams confirm that the curve of this epidemic disease is starting to go down compared with the early days of discovering this outbreak," Emran told IRIN.
"We cannot guess when this epidemic will stop spreading, despite the huge efforts of the treatment and control operation. The successful fight against this disease requires the public’s comprehensive cooperation with the authorities' efforts. Without this collaboration we can't reach our aims of fighting this disease," he explained.
As part of the operation, more than 50 medically equipped cars with over 250 technicians were dispatched to the affected areas in one of the largest medical campaigns in the country's history. It included wiping out mosquitoes, filling swamps where they breed and disinfecting areas where mosquitoes live to stop transmission of the disease.
Dengue fever can be caused by any one of four types of the dengue virus: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4. A person can be infected by at least two, if not all four types at different times during a life span, but only once by the same type.
Health authorities have asked people to cooperate by taking precautions and staying away from the mosquitoes breeding in places inside and outside their houses and to avoid drinking dirty water. Teams of people have been spraying homes in order to stop the spread of dengue fever.
Zabid city in Hudaidah province was the first area infected by the fever last December, then it spread slowly in other areas and moved to neighbouring provinces.
Field workers from the health ministry told IRIN that Zabid was close to being clear of this disease after a strong campaign was launched against it, where treatment took place in more than 54,000 houses from January to mid-March.
“The use of stored water is still an obstacle faced in the treatment process because this water is considered as one of the major sources of breeding mosquitoes. We cannot solve this problem without a water substitute, by providing healthy drinking water for people,” general director of the Tehama centre for control, Dr Mohammed Saleh al-Mehdar, told IRIN.
“The problem facing the health ministry is that some cases of this disease have been discovered in a lot of parts of Hajja province [127 km west of Sana] and in another five provinces like Taiz, Raymah, Dhamar, Mahwit and Saadah,” he added.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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