'Dengue kills too' - Latin America faces two epidemics at once

FILE PHOTO: Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are seen at the Laboratory of Entomology and Ecology of the Dengue Branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 6, 2016. REUTERS/Alvin Baez/File Photo

BOGOTA (Reuters) - As the coronavirus kills thousands and dominates government attention across Latin America, another deadly viral infection is quietly stalking the region.

Dengue - colloquially called breakbone fever for the severe joint pain it causes - is endemic in much of Latin America, but COVID-19's arrival has pulled crucial attention and resources away from the fight against it, doctors and officials say.