Background
Bolivia first declared a national emergency in early February 2009, when it alerted the world about the country's worst outbreak of dengue fever in twenty-two years. By 3 February, five people had died in the east of the country and over 7,000 more were infected. Worst hit is the Santa Cruz Department, near the Paraguayan border and the Amazon. A number of military facilities, particularly in the city of Santa Cruz, were turned into temporary hospitals as the real hospitals struggled to cope with the conditions. Thousands of soldiers were mobilized to assist medical workers. The government then allocated funds to supply hospitals across the country; however, it was criticised in some quarters for the slowness of its actions. The infection was most widespread in the tropical eastern lowlands, where conditions led to a thriving mosquito population. Bolivia's healthcare services had difficulty in coping with the outbreak, with experts from Venezuela, Cuba, Paraguay and the World Health Organisation called in to assist.
Read more about this topic: 2009 Bolivian Dengue Fever Epidemic
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