Guatemalan authorities on Thursday declared a state of health emergency across the country due to a dengue fever outbreak that has killed 22 people this year out of more than 12,000 cases, according to government figures.

“We have taken the decision to declare a national health emergency because of the situation,” Health Minister Francisco Coma announced during a press conference, specifying that the measure would last for three months.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, 22 people died from dengue fever between January and August. In total, 12,263 cases have been registered, a number increased by 152% compared to the corresponding period of last year.

As part of the measure, which concerns various public and private agencies, spraying will be done in particular to eliminate as many mosquitoes as possible that are carriers of the virus.

The purpose of “this intervention and inter-agency coordination is to prevent an increase in active cases”, emphasized the Undersecretary of Civil Protection Walter Monroy, recalling that the worst dengue fever epidemic was recorded in 2019, with over 50,000 recorded infections.

The current period until October is the rainy season in Guatemala. Virus-carrying mosquitoes deposit their eggs in stagnant water.

Dengue fever is characterized by symptoms such as high fever, acute headaches, muscle aches, skin rashes, low blood platelet levels, nausea and vomiting, and in its more severe forms, leaking blood vessels and a large drop in blood pressure.