A worker from the Nicaraguan health ministry fumigates a resident’s front yard in Managua, Nicaragua, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. According to the government, more than 5,000 cases of dengue have been reported this year and has claimed 14 lives. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Nicaragua Dengue
A girl uses a handkerchief to cover her nose and mouth as she holds her pet parakeet, while a worker from the Nicaraguan health ministry fumigates in her neighborhood in Managua, Nicaragua, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. According to the government, more than 5,000 cases of dengue have been reported this year and has claimed 14 lives. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Nicaragua Dengue
A worker from the Nicaraguan health ministry appears from a doorway in a cloud of insecticide after fumigating a home in Managua, Nicaragua, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. According to the government, more than 5,000 cases of dengue have been reported this year and has claimed 14 lives. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Nicaragua Dengue
A worker from the Nicaraguan health ministry fumigates inside a home in Managua, Nicaragua, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. According to the government, more than 5,000 cases of dengue have been reported this year and has claimed 14 lives. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Nicaragua Dengue
A dog owner restrains his pet to keep the dog from attacking a worker from the health ministry fumigating the owner’s home, in Managua, Nicaragua, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. According to the government, more than 5,000 cases of dengue have been reported this year and has claimed 14 lives. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
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MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Hundreds of Nicaraguan government workers are spreading across the capital of Managua to fumigate every home against a mosquito that spreads dengue. They are also on the lookout for people infected with the disease.
The government ordered city workers to squirt insecticide over puddles on streets and inside each home in the city this week.
Officials also have deployed health workers throughout Nicaragua to identify people sick with dengue and move them to health care facilities.
Most of Nicaragua’s 5,000 dengue cases, including 14 deaths, are concentrated on the border with Honduras. Honduras has reported nearly 18,000 cases so far, compared with 15,000 for all of 2012.
Central America is on track to have one of its worst years ever for dengue, which is a painful, sometimes fatal, disease.
