Virus Name in Location

Mahad Yusuf, a community health manager at Somali Red Crescent Society, speculates that El Niño, a warming of the ocean surface potentially being made stronger by climate change in many parts of Somalia, may have contributed to the surge in dengue cases witnessed in many parts of the country that year: “Mudug region was greatly affected by flooding that rainy season which increased the number of mosquito breeding sites.” With these conditions expected to occur more frequently in the future, Yusuf adds that it’s critical to anticipate outbreaks based on weather patterns and flooding events and implement appropriate prevention measures.

One particularly important prevention measure involves draining, spraying or covering places where Aedes aegypti mosquitos breed, typically in open wells, ponds and sewers. In response to this outbreak, volunteers surveyed each village and nearby surrounding areas, noting any potential breeding sites which could later be drained, treated or covered. This information was spread through local community networks and included as part of radio broadcasting in an effort to minimize the number of available mosquito breeding sites while the outbreak was ongoing.

Although the seasonal unticks in dengue fever continue to be a problem for Puntland state, Somalia, and other countries where the disease is endemic, the outbreak response in Mudug illustrates how community-based surveillance efforts can empower communities to protect themselves and minimize the number of people affected by the disease. The shifting climate, meanwhile, highlights the importance of heightened awareness to environmental events that could indicate an imminent surge in cases. Because some outbreaks continue in neighboring regions, the outbreak in Mudug has not officially been declared over by the Ministry of Health, but no further cases were identified in the region following the initial three cases.