A total of 654 new cases of dengue fever were reported across Paraguay in the last 24 hours, much higher than an average of 400 new cases a day last week, Paraguay's health authorities said on Wednesday.

Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte Frutos has not yet declared the epidemic to be a health emergency, despite several experts calling for the declaration.

Dengue fever is a viral infection spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, with symptoms of high fever, nausea, rash, backache and headache.

Some 10,148 Paraguayans have now suffered from dengue, according to the nation's Public Health Ministry. Four of the infected have died of hemorrhagic dengue, a fatal variant, which causes severe internal bleeding as blood vessels collapse.

Source: Xinhua