Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador: Health Officials Declare Emergency, Dengue Outbreak

ElComercio.com reports that an urgent meeting was held last night, Monday July 11th that included the government of the Esmeraldas province, representatives of the Pan-American Organization of Health (OPS), Ministry of Health, and National Service of Malaria Eradication (SNME), over the outbreak of dengue in the capital of the Esmeraldas province. Authorities have declared a dengue health emergency in the capital, Esmeraldas. Officials say there are 411 cases of dengue, and 90% of the epidemic is contained to two urban parishes. Information from health authorities in Esmeraldas show that 80% of the people affected by dengue is children. The Esmeraldas governor, Lenin Lara says that outbreak is due to water contamination from problems with storage and lines of distribution in the city of Esmeraldas.Read Article