Dengue fever reported on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border
El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico comprise the second largest bi-national metropolitan area on the Mexico – United States border with over two million people.
Photo/CDC-James Gathany
Recently, health officials from both sides of the border have confirmed a case each of dengue fever, one in Juárez and one in El Paso, have health personnel conncerned.
According to the El Paso Times, on Aug. 15, health officials in Juárez confirmed the first case of dengue in that city. As a result, health officials in Chihuahua are asking people who are planning to travel to tropical areas in Mexico to take precautions.
A 38-year-old Juárez man who had traveled to the southern state of Veracruz was diagnosed with dengue fever, said Juárez health director Dr. Hector Puertas Rincon.
In El Paso, one case of dengue fever has been found, said Armando Saldivar, spokesman for the city Department of Public Health.
The case involved a 5-year-old girl who contracted the illness while she was in Puerto Rico last month.
However, there have not been any cases of dengue that originated in the city.
Dengue fever is caused by one of four different but related viruses. It is spread by the bite of mosquitoes, most commonly the mosquito Aedes aegypti, which is found in tropic and subtropic regions.
