Alert sounded for dengue fever
Health officials throughout Asia are warning of a possible epidemic of dengue fever this year, with the World Health Organisation saying it may be 'one of the worst' - on par with 1998, when almost 1,500 people died from the mosquito-borne disease. 'We're seeing major spikes ... in reported cases around the region,' says WHO adviser John Ehrenberg. Dengue already has killed more than 1,000 people in Indonesia. Although not as deadly as malaria, which kills about 2.7 million people worldwide every year, dengue fever has no known cure or vaccine, AFP reports.