Four new cases of locally contracted chikungunya disease have been confirmed in Jamaica. The positive results were confirmed by CARPHA and disclosed by Dr Marion Bullock DuCasse, Director of Emergency, Disaster Management and Special Services in the island’s Ministry of Health. Another suspected case at the UWI Mona Campus is awaiting confirmation from CARPHA (the Caribbean Public Health Agency) located in Trinidad and Tobago with offices in St. Lucia and Jamaica.
The affected parishes include St Thomas, St Catherine, St Ann and Kingston and St Andrew. The mosquito borne disease in known to cause dengue and presents with severe joint pain, muscle weakness, rash, headaches and is rarely fatal but joint pain in known to last for as long as 2 years in some people.
“The ministry will continue with its public education and intense vector control activities including fogging of the surrounding areas and communities in which the affected persons reside,” DuCasse said, “I would like to stress that individual responsibility is important for us to reduce the mosquito population. Each citizen has to recognise the role that they have to play in ensuring that they do not provide opportunities for mosquitoes to breed in their environment. This will assist with limiting the spread of chikungunya,”
DuCasse emphasized the importance of eradicating breeding sites, wearing long sleeves and using mosquito-repellent, using mosquito nets and also said paying close attention to the already ill, elderly and babies and other vulnerable individuals.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said that 31 countries and territories in the Americas have reported that they have locally transmitted cases of chikungunya while 23 countries have reported imported cases as well. Five hundred and eight thousand, one hundred and twenty two cases (508 122) of chikungunya are suspected in the region with 4, 736 confirmed as being locally transmitted.
There have been 32 deaths in the region.
