Many other people infected with the virus are asymptomatic, but some suffer headaches, fever and flu-like symptoms. Severe cases can cause severe bleeding, shock and death.
LOCAL CASES OF DENGUE CONFIRMED IN THE CHAOS OF FLORIDA, SPREAD BY MOSQUITO BITES
In the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhs, the disease regularly spreads through long-distance transport travel within the country. However, on April 25, the Ministry of Health warned that since 2023, cases of local transmission without travel history have been documented “due to climate change and an environment conducive to mosquito reproduction. “
Changing weather patterns are turning countries that were once inhospitable to dengue-carrying mosquitoes into imaginable habitats.
The deluge in April, which flooded part of Dubai’s main highways and international airport, amplified the threat in this Gulf country. While primary arteries soon saw the arrival of vacuum pumps, others have struggled for weeks with pools of standing water, where viruses mosquitoes lay their eggs and spread the disease.
An abandoned vehicle is found on a flooded major highway in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 18, 2024, after heavy storms. (AP Photo/Christopher Pike, File)
No official figures have been shared in the United Arab Emirates, where extensive legislation severely limits freedom of expression and almost all major local media outlets are state-owned or state-affiliated. Requests to government organizations regarding the exact number of dengue cases shown have not received a response. .
The WHO also declined to comment on the scenario in the United Arab Emirates when contacted via The Associated Press. However, the U. N. fitness firm noted in its May 30 report that dengue outbreaks have continued in the Middle East, “countries with more powerful fitness systems. “that have been affected by unusual rainfall due to climate change. “He also said: “Timely knowledge sharing also remains a challenge for other countries in the region for reasons such as the potential effect on tourism, the economy and other sectors. »
Meanwhile, the sheikh’s public awareness campaigns on the importance of cleaning up standing water and warnings about dengue, also known as damaged fever, have been widely reported in state media.
Activists point out that running communities are the most affected by the disease.
The slow clean-up of flooded spaces at commercial sites has worsened the incidence of the disease among workers, some of whom have left their already climate-stricken home countries to pursue the possibility of earning money in the United Arab Emirates, according to a report published via FairSquare. . a London-based organisation focused on labour rights in the Gulf Arab States.
The July 4 report notes an increase in dengue cases among immigrant worker communities in the UAE, including three sports workers, a government official and migrant workers. The organization attributed the increase in cases to the government’s delayed response to the spread of the viral infection in the spaces where migrant workers live and work.
James Lynch, co-director of FairSquare, who was once barred from entering the UAE while running for Amnesty International, told the AP that “what’s vital here is the disproportionate impact” of how the virus spreads basically among workers. “You should see that it’s a fair technique for cleaning and that doesn’t seem to be the case here. “
No express figures are shared in the report, which quotes a nurse working at a private clinic in the city of Sharjah as receiving more than 30 cases every four or five days, calling the increase in cases “alarming. “
The UAE’s total population of over 9. 2 million is made up of just 10% Emiratis, with millions of low-wage people coming from Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
“I call this a double whammy of climate change for this very vulnerable population,” said Barrak Alahmad, a professor at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. “I see that these immigrants are on the front lines of the effects of climate change and health. “
The effects of the virus have also affected Iran.
The Islamic Republic relies on Dubai as the main transit point to the rest of the world due to foreign sanctions it faces over its nuclear program and tensions with the West.
On July 9, Shahnam Arshi, an Iranian Health Ministry official, said that of another 149 people infected with dengue, 130 were infected in the United Arab Emirates, while Hossein Farshidi, deputy health minister, said the first infected user known had entered Iran. on May 15, after the floods in the Emirates.
Farshidi, in his last statements on July 23, said that the number of angry people in the country was 152, without giving further details.
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This year, Iran also reported its first transmitted cases of dengue, saying the number rose to 12 in July, all located in Iran’s southern port of Bandar Lengeh.
Earlier this year, the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro declared a public health emergency due to mosquito-borne dengue, while in July, U. S. officials warned doctors to remain on alert as the tropical disease broke records abroad.
“Every year we will see new places and other local governments suffering with dengue or other problems related to climate change,” said Alahmad, a researcher. “It is a challenge that is expanding. I don’t know if we have an undeniable solution to this challenge. “
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