Honduras has
declared a state of emergency following the deaths of 16 people in an outbreak of
dengue fever. Altogether more than 12,000 people have been infected with the
virus that is borne by mosquitoes.
The disease
causes flu-like symptoms and occasionally develops into a potentially lethal
form called haemorrhagic dengue. Honduras’s worst outbreak happened in 2010, when 83
people died.
Earlier this
year, the authorities in Brazil reported a steep rise in cases of dengue, with
more than 200,000 people infected compared with 70,000 in the same period of
2012, though the health minister said most cases were less severe.
The World Health
Organisation says that across the world there are 30 times as many cases as there
were 50 years ago, with up to 100 million infections a year in more than 100
countries.
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