Puerto Rico Declares Public Health Emergency Amid Surging Dengue Fever Cases

Healio (3/26, Stulpin) reports, “Puerto Rico has declared a public health emergency following a spike in cases of dengue.” So far this year, the number of confirmed infections as of Monday “was 549, which is already nearly half of the infections reported in 2023. Almost half (49%) of all cases have been reported in the San Juan region.” By declaring an emergency, secretary of Puerto Rico’s health department Carlos Mellado López “said necessary resources to strengthen surveillance, detection, prevention, control of vectors and clinical management will be more readily available to support the local response.”