KHARTOUM, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The total number of suspected dengue fever cases in Sudan has exceeded 4,000 as the African country is struggling to battle one of its worst dengue fever outbreaks in years, the Sundanese health ministry said.
"There are 4,104 suspected cases of dengue fever, including 516 confirmed cases and 29 deaths," the ministry said in a report released on Tuesday, adding the infectious disease has spread in nine Sudanese states.
Montasir Mohamed Osman, head of the health emergency and epidemic control directorate at the Sudanese Health Ministry, said in a statement that the wide spread of dengue fever was attributed to the heavy rains and lack of essential supplies such as pesticides and mosquito nets.
Dengue viruses are spread to people through the bite of mosquitos. Almost half of the world's population, or about 4 billion people, live in areas with a risk of dengue.
In a report published in November, the United Nations warned about the increasing trend of malaria cases as well as outbreaks of measles, dengue fever, and Hepatitis E in Sudan, calling the outbreaks of communicable diseases "a significant concern."
