Latest World Health Organization News

Dengue cases in Peru are surging, fueled by mosquitoes and high temperatures brought by El Niño

Mar. 01, 2024 18:29 PM EST

PIURA, Peru (AP) — Residents of Pedregal Grande, a poor neighborhood in the Peruvian city of Piura, receive water for only 30 minutes a day because of shortages, forcing them to collect it in plastic tanks that have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Scorching temperatures...

Cambodia reports a new bird flu case, the brother of a 9-year-old who died of the virus

Feb. 12, 2024 08:08 AM EST

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The brother of a boy who died last week from bird flu has tested positive for the virus, Cambodia’s Health Ministry said Monday. The 9-year-old's death in the northeastern province of Kratie was the first from bird flu in Cambodia this year, after four...

Rio de Janeiro declares a dengue health emergency days ahead of Carnival

Feb. 07, 2024 20:26 PM EST

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio de Janeiro on Monday has declared a public health emergency because of an outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever, the city announced Monday, just days before Carnival celebrations kick off across Brazil. The outbreak wasn't expected to derail Carnival,...

Cameroon starts world's first malaria vaccine program for children

Jan. 22, 2024 00:19 AM EST

Cameroon will be the first country to routinely give children a new malaria vaccine as the shots are rolled out in Africa. The campaign due to start Monday was described by officials as a milestone in the decades-long effort to curb the mosquito-spread disease on the continent, which...

A cholera outbreak in Zambia has caused more than 400 deaths and infected 10,000

Jan. 17, 2024 20:49 PM EST

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Zambia is reeling from a major cholera outbreak that has killed more than 400 people and infected more than 10,000, leading authorities to order schools across the country to remain shut after the end-of-year holidays. A large soccer stadium in the capital...

Cesarean deliveries surge in Puerto Rico, reaching a record rate in the US territory, report says

Jan. 10, 2024 07:35 AM EST

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Cesareans are surging in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which has one of the world’s highest rates with more than 50% of babies now delivered via surgery compared with only 32% on the U.S. mainland, according to a federal report released Wednesday. ...

UN health agency cites tenfold increase in reported cases of dengue over the last generation

Dec. 22, 2023 11:39 AM EST

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. health agency said Friday that reported cases of dengue globally increased tenfold over the last generation, with climate change and the growing spread of virus-carrying mosquitoes partly to blame for transmission that remains mostly prevalent in the Americas. ...