Health Officials Warn of Dengue Fever During 2014 World Cup in Brazil

The FIFA World Cup will take place this summer in Brazil, and on top of the myriad construction issues that the country has experienced since they began building for the games, scientists now are predicting dengue fever outbreaks in various regions.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral infection that causes flu-like illness and can potentially develop into a lethal complication called "severe dengue." Approximately 40% of the world's population (over 2.5 billion people) is at risk for dengue fever, which mostly includes those living in tropical and sub-tropical climates.

In a recent analysis, scientists predicted a high-alert warning for dengue fever at three venues during the World Cup: Natal, Fortaleza, and Recife. In their study, "Dengue outlook for the World Cup in Brazil: an early warning model framework driven by real-time seasonal climate forecasts," the researchers developed an "early warning system" that can predict outbreaks and have them avoided.

The research was published on Saturday in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases. They were able to forecast risk warnings for all 12 cities where soccer matches will be played beginning on June 12. They believe that the timeliness of their analysis will help Brazil's Ministry of Health appropriately address such a pressing issue.

"The possibility of a large dengue fever outbreak during the World Cup, capable of infecting visitors and spreading dengue back to their country of origin, depends on a combination of many factors, including large numbers of mosquitoes, a susceptible population, and a high rate of mosquito-human contact," said Dr. Rachel Lowe from the Catalan Institute of Climate Sciences in Barcelona, and lead researcher of the study, in this BBC News article.

Last year, dengue fever cases in the Americas numbered in excess of 2.35 million, with over 37,000 being severe dengue. This number is expected to increase, of countries mainly in Central and South America. By November of 2013, Brazil reported over 1.4 million cases alone, which prompted health officials to take note for the millions of people that will travel to the South American country for the World Cup.

The virus affects 400 million people annually, but early recognition and seeking medical treatment is likely to lower complications. Health officials are worried about such large-scale events and the prevalence of disease worldwide. The MERS outbreak in Saudi Arabia is worrying many because millions of Muslims are expected to participate in Ramadan and Hajj, which could witness an unprecedented spread of the virus.