The imminent rainy season in Cuba is expected to be very warm, and has put authorities on the alert because of the potential for wide proliferation of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the dengue virus. The government-run newspaper Granma issued an appeal on Mar. 19 for citizen responsibility and compliance with health and environmental measures to prevent dengue outbreaks.

Manuel García, a resident of Plaza, a district in Havana, told Tierramérica that the pro-government Revolutionary Defense Committees, working block by block, collaborate in all health campaigns, “and will do so on this occasion.”

In 2006, the word was that there were at least 15,000 cases of dengue across Cuba, but the figure was never officially confirmed. The worst epidemic was in 1981, with 344,203 ill, 10, 312 cases of hemorrhagic dengue, and 158 deaths.