Epidemiological Description of Dengue Fever Outbreak in Kebridhar District, Somali Region, Ethiopia – 2017

Dengue fever is caused by dengue virus (DENV), a member of the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae. The virus is transmitted by the infected female mosquito called Aedes aegypti. There are four serotypes, DENV1 through DENV4. Dengue fever is one of the most important re-emerging arboviral disease, more than half of the world’s population are at risk of this disease. Starting from 2013 over 12,000 cases were reported from Ethiopia. Descriptive cross-sectional study design was applied to describe dengue fever outbreak data from Kebridhar District reported to Ethiopian Public Health Institute from May to June 2017. Ratios, proportions and rates were analyzed by using Microsoft excel and findings were presented by narrations, frequency distributions and graphs. A total of 101 dengue fever cases were reported from Kebridhar District of Somali Region. Sixty-eight-point three percent (69/101) were males and 9.9% (10/101) cases were hospitalized. The positivity rate of dengue virus was 76.9% (10/13). The median age of cases was 27 years (IQR: 22 – 38). The case fatality rate was zero and the attack rate was 86 cases per 100,000 population. Eighteen-point eight percent (19/101) cases had bleeding. All cases reported that, they had open water containers, no spraying of houses for six months prior to the onset of the fever and bed net utilization rate was 30.7%. Males and 50 – 54 years old individuals were highly affected groups. Ministry of Health Regional Health Bureau and District Health Office should work on vector and environmental control activities.