
-
Runners fly to North Korea for first post-Covid Pyongyang Marathon
-
Hamilton rubbishes claims he's lost faith in Ferrari
-
Nintendo Switch 2 sparks excitement despite high price
-
Sri Lanka's crackdown on dogs for India PM's visit sparks protest
-
S Korea police raise security levels ahead of impeachment verdict
-
China vows 'countermeasures' to sweeping new US tariffs
-
Trump jolts allies, foes and markets with tariff blitz
-
France says EU to target US online services after Trump tariffs
-
Tsunoda vows to bring 'something different' after Red Bull promotion
-
Verstappen not happy with Tsunoda-Lawson Red Bull swap
-
Experts accuse 54 top Nicaragua officials of grave abuses
-
Remains of 30th victim of Los Angeles fires found
-
EU to target US online services after Trump tariffs: France
-
How Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs will impact China
-
Malaysia suspends search for long-missing flight MH370
-
Search for long-missing flight MH370 suspended: Malaysia minister
-
Europe hits out at Trump tariffs, keeps door open for talks
-
Myanmar's junta chief to head to Bangkok summit as quake toll surpasses 3,000
-
Lawson vows to prove he belongs in F1 after shock of Red Bull axing
-
Australia sweats through hottest 12 months on record: official data
-
Livestock theft is central to jihadist economy in west Africa
-
South African artist champions hyenas in 'eco-queer' quest
-
Danish PM in 'unity' Greenland visit amid US takeover threats
-
Taiwan says US tariffs 'highly unreasonable'
-
Lawson says ruthless Red Bull axing was 'tough to hear'
-
Heat humble Celtics for sixth straight win, Thunder roll on
-
Trump escalates trade war with sweeping global tariffs
-
Japan says US tariffs 'extremely regrettable', may break WTO rules
-
South Koreans anxious, angry as court to rule on impeached president
-
Juve at in-form Roma with Champions League in the balance
-
Injuries put undermanned Bayern's title bid to the test
-
Ovechkin scores 892nd goal -- three away from Gretzky's NHL record
-
Australian former rugby star Petaia signs for NFL's Chargers
-
China says opposes new US tariffs, vows 'countermeasures'
-
Athletics world watching as 'Grand Slam Track' prepares for launch
-
Heat humble Celtics for sixth straight win, Cavs top Knicks
-
Quake-hit Myanmar's junta chief to head to Bangkok summit
-
New Spielberg, Nolan films teased at CinemaCon
-
Shaken NATO allies to meet Trump's top diplomat
-
Israel's Netanyahu arrives in Hungary, defying ICC warrant
-
Shiny and deadly, unexploded munitions a threat to Gaza children
-
Stocks tank, havens rally as Trump tariffs fan trade war
-
Altomare hangs on to tie defending champ Korda at LPGA Match Play
-
Paraguay gold rush leaves tea producers bitter
-
Health concerns swirl as Bolivian city drowns in rubbish
-
Syria says deadly Israeli strikes a 'blatant violation'
-
Financial markets tumble after Trump tariff announcement
-
Starbucks faces new hot spill lawsuits weeks after $50mn ruling
-
Europe riled, but plans cool-headed response to Trump's tariffs
-
'Shenmue' voted most influential video game ever in UK poll

Brimful clinics, cemeteries as dengue ravages Peru
Two months after cyclonic downpours flooded the town of Catacaos in northern Peru, dozens of inhabitants lie sick and dying of dengue, a disease carried by mosquitos attracted by stagnant water.
Near the border with Ecuador, Peru's Piura region is battling a new health crisis even as the South American country is still recovering from the world's highest reported Covid-19 death rate.
This time it is an epidemic of dengue, a viral disease with symptoms ranging from fever, headache and joint pain to bleeding, organ failure and sometimes, death.
The virus is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito that lays its eggs in standing water, of which there is a lot in Piura since cyclone Yaku hit northern Peru in March.
Dozens of people were killed and thousands affected as rivers burst their banks, destroying homes and infrastructure.
Half of the Piura region's 416 clinics were damaged by the cyclone that also paralyzed the local economy as thousands lost their ability to survive from informal jobs.
Maria Francisca Sosa, 45, is one of many taking care of ailing relatives at home amid skyrocketing infections and overwhelmed public health care facilities in scenes reminiscent of the coronavirus epidemic.
Her father Jose Luciano, 93, is fighting a dengue infection.
"It hit him so hard that he couldn't even stand anymore. Once, he was so sick that we thought he was going to die," Sosa told AFP as she wiped her father's sweaty forehead in the shanty they share with five other people.
With public health facilities overwhelmed, the family was forced to take out a loan to pay for a private doctor and medicine to treat the old man's symptoms. There is no cure for dengue.
- 'Lost control' -
By June 13, Piura had reported 82 dengue deaths -- including 11 children -- and more than 44,000 infections since the start of 2023, said the region's rights ombudsman Cesar Orrego.
This was about a third of the national toll of 248 deaths and more than 146,000 infections.
"We have lost control" of the epidemic, vector-borne diseases expert Valerie Paz-Soldan of the Cayetano Heredia University in Lima told AFP.
On Thursday, Peru's health minister resigned over her handling of the crisis.
Most of Piura's 1.8 million inhabitants live along the coast.
In Catacaos, an agricultural area, Yaku turned roads into rivers, destroyed the drinking water and sewerage systems, and ruined mango, grape and rice crops.
Water accumulated in open tanks, hollows and containers, multiplying mosquito breeding grounds. In the heart of Catacaos, the football field is still water-logged.
Multiple fumigation efforts failed to stop the epidemic spreading like wild-fire through the town's rickety homes.
Teolinda Silva, 45, takes care of her stricken son Gabriel, 27.
"I don't have the money to take him to a clinic and have him examined. Right now, I am going through difficult times, there is no work, there is nothing," Silva, an informal fish merchant, told AFP.
Luis Alfredo Espinoza Venegas, 44, who coordinates dengue surveillance at the Sullana hospital, said the region was dealing with its worst outbreak in recent memory.
"We have an immense human resource gap, our first level of care has collapsed and we lack supplies, medicines," he said.
Doctors fear the number of infections and deaths may be much higher than reported as many patients are never even diagnosed.
- 'We did everything' -
Last weekend, a wailing procession accompanied the remains of FerMaria Ancajima to a cemetery in Catacaos.
She was just ten years old when dengue took her.
Her family had to borrow money to bring her body back from Lima, where they had taken her to seek medical care.
"We did everything we could," her uncle Julio Morales, 52, told AFP.
The World Health Organization says dengue and other diseases such as chikungunya carried by A. aegypti are spreading far faster and further amid climate change.
Other countries in Latin America are also affected by the dengue outbreak, but Peru has registered the second highest mortality so far this year after Brazil.
In February, Peru declared a health emergency in several departments after recording a 72-percent increase in dengue cases from the same period in 2022.
L.Davis--AMWN