Dengue Fever Increased by Rapid Urbanization

Nearly half of the world's population is at risk according to health experts. The dense urbanized areas of Southeast Asia are breeding grounds for the disease, which can then easily spread.

"'As early the 1980s, dengue fever had reached epidemic proportions in some countries in Asia long before climate change became an issue. Rapid urbanization, increase in air travel and lack of mosquito control are the main drivers of the disease.'

Duane Gubler, director of Asia Pacific Institute of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of Hawaii, said dengue spreads quickly in crowded cities with inadequate basic services, such as potable water, sanitation and waste-management and weak public health infrastructures."