LIMA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia's Health Ministry announced on Wednesday that there were 397 suspected cases of dengue fever in the country, up from the 270 reported last Friday, news reaching here said.

    Some 90 percent of the cases were found in the city of Santa Cruz and the town of Montero, both in Santa Cruz province, and isolated cases were also reported in the provinces of Pando and Beni, the ministry said.

    Dengue is a disease carried by the Aedes Aegypt mosquito. It's symptoms include high fever, nausea, rash, backache and headache.

    The ministry said it was trying to stamp out the mosquito with the help of the army by clearing out stagnant water where the mosquito breeds.

    Heavy rains triggered by the El Nino weather phenomenon had created many possible breeding grounds for the mosquito, it said.

    The ministry called on the whole country to join it in a program of fumigation and cleaning to destroy the mosquito.

    Dengue is caused by four closely-related viruses carried by the mosquito. Most mainstream dengue cases are not fatal, but the hemorrhagic variant, which causes severe internal bleeding as blood vessels collapse, kills between 1 and 20 percent of its victims.