Peru: Widespread devastation and disease risk following floods /update 4

Event

More than a million people across Peru have been affected by flooding and landslides due to heavy rainfall since the beginning of 2017. At least 114 deaths have been confirmed, along with widespread destruction, including of roads, bridges, homes, schools, hospitals, and water supply infrastructure. More than 45,000 people are currently residing in shelters and camps and transportation disruptions and dangerous driving conditions continue to affect daily life. A state of emergency initially declared in January remains in place as of late April.

The risk of disease outbreaks remains high in northern and western areas of the country, particularly in areas where medical infrastructure has been damaged by flooding and landslides. As pockets of stagnant fresh water provide fertile breeding grounds for the disease-carrying Aedes Aegypti mosquito, the risk of major outbreaks of dengue fever, chikungunya, and the Zika virus is high; yellow fever outbreaks cannot be ruled out. As of April 15, more than 16,000 probable cases of dengue fever had been detected nationwide, including nearly 5000 confirmed cases and 14 fatalities. The northwestern Piura region (in particular the districts of Castilla, Piura, and Sullana) has been the worst-hit by the disease and health centers are overwhelmed. Other regions affected by the dengue outbreak include La Libertad, Ica, Lambayeque, Ayacucho, Ucayali, Cusco, and Áncash. Outbreaks of water-borne diarrheal maladies and the bacterial disease leptospirosis have also been reported in flooded areas.

Context

It should be noted that the popular tourist destinations of Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, and Lake Titicaca have been unaffected by the flooding. Areas south of Lima had been hit by flooding but have since recovered. The Amazon Basin region has not received unusually high levels of rain.

Advice

Individuals in Peru are advised to keep abreast of the situation, to adhere to any orders or advice issued by the local authorities, to consume only bottled or decontaminated water, and to protect themselves against mosquitoes (e.g. by wearing covering clothing, using insect repellent, and sleeping under mosquito-netting or in an air conditioned room).