Dengue is found in tropical and subtropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semiurban areas. The global incidence of dengue has grown dramatically in recent decades. The CDC reports that about 3 billion people are at risk of dengue, up to 400 million people get infected, about 100 million people become ill, and approximately 22,000 people die from severe dengue each year.39 Severe dengue is a leading cause of serious illness and death among children in some Asian and Latin American countries. In recent years dengue outbreaks have occurred in the Caribbean and Central America. Areas with widespread dengue include the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East. The distribution of dengue fever is similar to that of malaria and yellow fever. There is no vaccine available and no known treatment other than rest and good hydration, so preventive measures are targeted at avoiding mosquito bites.
EBOL A Ebola is a rare and deadly hemorrhagic viral illness that affects humans as well as monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees. Six Ebolavirus species have been identified in several African nations; bats are their most likely reservoir. Ebola was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In succeeding decades, relatively small outbreaks appeared sporadically in Africa. Modern travel may now be helping to disseminate the disease to other countries. A 2014 outbreak in West Africa lasted through part of 2016 and resulted in more than 28,600 cases and 11,325 deaths — most of them within West Africa but a few in other countries. More recent outbreaks occurred in DRC in June–November 2020 and in Guinea in February–June 2021. Ebola is acquired through direct contact with an infected individual — via broken skin or the mucous membranes in the eyes, nose or mouth, for example — or through contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person, with a contaminated object or with fruit infected by bats or primates. 94
