Paraguay could face threat from dengue, other fevers this year

ASUNCION (Reuters) - Paraguay could face problems this year with dengue and other fevers transmitted by mosquitoes, which have proliferated due to rainy weather during the Southern Hemisphere summer, a health ministry official said on Tuesday. Paraguay had a record 150,000 dengue infections and 262 deaths in 2013. Concern this year extends to zika and chikungunya fevers, Paraguay's director of preventive health, Águeda Cabello, told Reuters. "These three sicknesses are circulating simultaneously," Cabello said. "Dengue is in a greater area, but we have to be careful about zika and chikungunya, which have been introduced as well. They could grow if we are not careful." (Reporting by Mariel Cristaldo; Editing by Sandra Maler)