Cases of dengue fever surge by nearly 50% in a month in Americas amid 'emergency situation', UN agency says

Cases of a 'bone breaking' disease have created an 'emergency situation' in the Americas, a United Nations agency has warned.

Jarbas Barbosa, head of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), confirmed more than 5.2 million cases of dengue fever across the Americas this year, a nearly 50 percent jump from the 3.5 million cases the group reported late last month.

More than 1,800 people have died from the mosquito-borne viral illness, up from over 1,000 deaths reported last month in the year through March.

'We have an emergency situation,' PAHO Director Jarbas Barbosa said in a press briefing.

A worker fumigates against mosquitoes around a building after Puerto Rico's spike in dengue fever cases

Epidemiologists blame the global rise in temperatures, which allows mosquitos which carry the virus to live longer and thrive across a wider swathe of territory.

The countries so far hit the hardest in the current outbreak, Argentina and Brazil, 'still have a very strong transmission,' Barbosa said.

But he added that 'in recent weeks there seems to be a stabilization, or even a reduction' in the countries' cases.

Barbosa warned that supply of an existing dengue vaccine is 'very limited' and even widespread vaccination would not have an immediate impact on interrupting the ongoing outbreak.

'The dengue vaccine can play an important role in reducing severe cases of deaths, but it will take time until the effects of the vaccine can be reflected in the decrease in dengue cases,' Barbosa said.

The situation had become so dire in Brazil that tent hospitals were erected in Brasilia and other cities at strategic points to triage patients with the virus. 

Florida has seen two cases of local transmission this year, meaning that patients caught the disease without traveling outside of the country. No other states have identified cases.

Last year, the Sunshine State identified 601 travel-associated and 61 locally acquired cases of dengue, according to the CDC.

Dengue, nicknamed the ‘bone-breaking disease’ for causing joint and muscle pain so severe that it feels as if the bones are breaking, is a virus that typically runs its course and resolves. 

But in as many one in 20 cases it can lead to bleeding and organ failure.

It most commonly causes a range of flu-like symptoms such as a fever, headache, pain, nausea, swelling, and a rash, for one to two weeks but it can develop into a severe and deadly infection.

The outbreaks in South America could be a bellwether for what might come in the northern hemisphere.

Dengue spreads via infected Aedes aegypti mosquitos, which thrive in tropical, subtropical, and temperate climates. 

The disease then travels to blood cells.

Warmer temperatures over longer warm seasons mean mosquitoes can live longer, even in just a few days, which drives up cases.

This had led experts to blame rising global temperatures for outbreaks.