International
Dengue epidemic in Latin America reaches alarming figures in the first quarter of 2024
The dengue epidemic in South America has reached alarming figures so far in 2024, with a notable increase in cases and deaths compared to the previous year, especially in Brazil, a country that has surpassed its own annual historical record of dengue infections, to date more than two million cases and 715 deaths.
The situation is especially worrying in Brasilia, with 5,774 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Authorities estimate that the number could amount to 4.2 million by the end of the year and have begun to offer vaccination despite the shortage of doses.
In Argentina, the Ministry of Health reported 151,310 cases of dengue, 134,202 of them registered this year, with an incidence of 321 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and 106 deaths, 96 of which occurred in 2024.
In addition, nineteen of the 24 territorial divisions have reported the presence of the virus, removing only Patagonian regions due to unfavorable weather conditions for mosquitoes.
The Government of Javier Milei has opted for strategies that do not include mass vaccination, saying that there is a lack of evidence about the effectiveness of vaccines in current outbreaks.
For its part, Uruguay reached 158 cases of dengue on Monday (62 native and 96 imported) after adding 10 new cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Public Health said in its daily report, in which it indicated that the majority of imports are from people who traveled to Argentina and Brazil.
On the other hand, Paraguay also reports worrying figures.
Since September 2023, the beginning of the most recent outbreak, until the second week of March 2024, the country has suffered 74 deaths due to dengue, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare reported.
Data from the General Directorate of Health Surveillance indicate that 35% of the deceased were over 60 years of age.
Peru is also experiencing an increase with 79,741 cases reported so far in 2024, an increase of 262% compared to the same period of the previous year.
82 deaths have been reported, a considerable jump from the 29th of the corresponding period in 2023.
The incidence of the disease is 233.77 per 100,000 inhabitants, with La Libertad being the most affected region.
In Colombia, the National Institute of Health has registered 55,340 cases, with 40.2% showing signs of alarm and 1% of serious cases. As of March 3, 94 probable deaths have been reported, with 10 confirmed cases and 69 under study.
The incidence of dengue at the end of February 2024 was 154.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants at risk, in stark contrast to the 48.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants reported in the same period of the previous year.
As so last in 2023, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned of the increase in dengue cases in the Americas. Last year the figure was 4.5 million cases.
Dengue, whose main vector of transmission in almost the entire American continent is the Aedes aegypti mosquito, affects people of all ages, and according to the World Health Organization, behind the expansion of the epidemic is the climate phenomenon of El Niño, as evidenced by the fact that it is growing in all parts of the world, except in Europe, according to the director general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom.
The increase in dengue cases in Latin America, according to experts, is also due to the need for more effective preventive and control actions, as well as constant epidemiological surveillance to combat the progression of the disease.
International
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
A 65-year-old Austrian citizen was arrested at a border checkpoint in Croatia after attempting to enter the country in his car with a deceased woman sitting as a passenger, police announced on Tuesday.
The man was detained in a routine check in late November in Gunja, a border area separating Bosnia from Croatia, the police told AFP. Suspicious because they saw “no consciousness or movement” from the passenger, Croatian officers called a doctor, who confirmed the death of the 83-year-old woman, also Austrian, according to her identification.
The woman’s relationship to the suspect is unknown. She had died in Bosnia, and the man intended to repatriate her body to Austria to “avoid the formalities related to transporting a corpse,” according to the police. Croatian media reported that the man was her legal guardian.
Once her death was confirmed, a funeral service took charge of the body.
International
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Colombian authorities arrested two nationals accused of the illegal trafficking of migrants to the United States and of endangering lives due to the disappearance of a boat with 40 people aboard, U.S. Department of Justice officials reported on Tuesday.
Hernando Manuel de la Cruz Rivera Orjuela, 52, and Luis Enrique Linero Pinto, 40, both Colombian citizens, were arrested on December 13 in Colombia at the request of the United States for their alleged involvement in a “transnational human trafficking operation,” the department said in a statement.
According to the charges, the detainees were transporting migrants to San Andrés Island in the Caribbean, where they would then be taken by boat to Nicaragua. The goal was to reach the United States through Central America and Mexico.
The accused are said to have advised the migrants on how to reach San Andrés Island, where they personally received them, arranged accommodations, and “took them to the boats that transported them to Nicaragua so they could enter the United States illegally,” the statement reads.
“These defendants put several migrants on the boat that disappeared off the coast of Nicaragua in 2023,” said Deputy Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, as cited in the statement.
Both men are “directly and personally responsible for the illicit trafficking of migrants on that vessel,” according to the indictment dated October 23.
International
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
Two soldiers were killed and five others were injured by the explosion of homemade landmines planted by a criminal group in a mountainous area of the Mexican state of Michoacán (west), the Secretary of Defense reported on Tuesday.
The attack occurred on Monday morning in the municipality of Cotija, a border area between Michoacán and the state of Jalisco, when the military was conducting a reconnaissance mission after receiving information about an armed camp in the area, explained Secretary General Ricardo Trevilla.
“At that moment, an improvised explosive device detonated. Unfortunately, two soldiers lost their lives, and five others were injured,” the military leader detailed. The affected soldiers were airlifted to hospitals in the region by a military helicopter, while the rest of the team continued with the reconnaissance of the area.
Trevilla stated that before the explosion, the military unit had located the dismembered bodies of three people, and upon continuing the mission, they confirmed the camp was abandoned.
Asked about the individuals responsible for placing the explosives, the general suggested they could be criminals linked to the local group Cárteles Unidos, which operates in Michoacán and uses these tactics in their territorial dispute with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the country.
Austrian man arrested in Croatia with deceased woman as passenger in his car
Colombian nationals arrested for human trafficking and disappearance of migrant boat
Homemade landmine explosion in Michoacán kills two soldiers, injures five
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