Colombian health authorities are alarmed by a recent increase of malaria and dengue fever infections following an exceptionally hot and dry season.
According to the health secretary of the central Risaralda department, three people died of the mosquito-borne diseases in his department.
“We are spraying and using impregnanted mosquito nets in endemic areas where last year we had 1167 cases of malaria,” Health Secretary Sergio Jairo Orozco told radio station Caracol.
The national government, through the Health Ministry, decided to free COP14 billion (US$7.1 million) to activate contingency plans to halt to spread of malaria and dengue fever.