(NBC News) – Latin America is experiencing its worst dengue fever outbreak on record. Case numbers in the first 4 ½ months of 2024 are already 238% higher than they were by this time last year, which itself ended with a record 4.1 million cases, according to the Pan American Health Organization. Cases are more than 400% higher than the five-year average.

An unusually wet and warm summer season brought by the El Niño weather pattern has created ideal conditions for the mosquitoes that spread dengue to hatch en masse and carry higher amounts of the virus. (Read More)