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Urgent warning as tick bites kill eight people - and leave a four-year-old hospitalized - in Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez
Mexican health authorities have issued a warning amid the rise in infections and death caused by tick bites in the northern state of Chihuahua.
Health figures show that 16 people have died from rickettsia this year in the state.
Eight of the 10 tick-born illness cases resulted in deaths in Ciudad Juárez, the border city across from El Paso, Texas.
Chihuahua City, the state capital, has reported 18 cases, including six which were fatal.
The municipalities of Aquiles Serdán and Meoqui reported one infection each – both resulted in deaths.
Four-year-old Yahir Rivera was recently hospitalized in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez after he was bitten by a tick. Health officials in Ciudad Juárez, a municipality in the northern state of Chihuahua, have reported eight deaths linked to tick bites this year. The state capital, Chihuahua City, registered six deaths
Friends and family of four-year-old Yahir Rivera took to Facebook on Thursday to search for potential blood donors. The child was bitten by a tick and is currently hospitalized in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juárez
One of the most recent infections reported was that of four-year-old Yahir Rivera, who is currently hospitalized at a government-run hospital in Ciudad Juárez.
Friends and family members took to Facebook on Thursday in search for blood donors for Rivera, who was diagnosed with rickettsiosis after he was bitten by a tick.
Chihuahua State Health Department deputy director, Gumaro Barrios held a press conference Tuesday and stressed the importance of 'personal care, pet care and home cleaning' to prevent tick bites.
'The person has to pay a lot of attention to hygiene, the permanent inspection to check that there is no ticks are attached,' Barrios explained while cautioning that residents necessarily don't need to be pet owners to attract ticks.
Chihuahua State Health Department deputy director, Gumaro Barrios held a press conference Tuesday to address the danger of tick bites
He called on pet owners to ensure that their animals are bathed, take to the veterinarian to ensure that their vaccines are current and that they have medication to make sure that they don't attract ticks.
Barrios indicated that it's also essential that their homes are well kept by cutting the grass, removing items that are kept outside or inside that are no longer used and to clean and patch their walls and spray door and window frames.
'With these simple measures we can also reduce the incidence and very importantly if we present symptoms go immediately to our medical (facilities),' he said.