Santo Domingo.– Dominican health authorities said Friday that without public support, it would be impossible to curb the dengue outbreak in the country, which has killed 27 people, according to press reports.    

Nelson Rodriguez, vice health minister, urged "all sectors" to be involved in the official campaign to eliminate the breeding places of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, carrier of dengue. He also said the infected cases had so far risen to nearly 4,000, forcing the government to declare an epidemic alert on Monday.

Rodriguez said that cleaning the environment was the basic step to stop the mosquitoes from breeding, which requires support from governments, schools, organizations and citizens.

The dengue virus type 1, type 2 and type 4 are in circulation, indicating that more people are likely to be infected, said Cristina Nogueira, representative of the Pan American Health Organization in the Dominican Republic.