With the growing worldwide concern over the Zika virus, Antigua & Barbuda’s Health Minister Molwyn Joseph has dismissed rumours of a possible 17 new cases of pregnant women being infected with the virus, as false.
This denial by the minister came yesterday at a press briefing to launch the ministry’s plans of an island- wide clean-up campaign, in an effort to eradicate the Aedes egypti mosquito that transmits the virus.
“I’m not aware of that, not in Antigua. I think this number of cases was reported in St Vincent & the Grenadines, but certainly not in Antigua.
“There has been one confirmed case to date, and there is another suspected case that I should hear about soon, of someone that travelled abroad. It’s a suspected case that’s being investigated, and from the preliminary report that I received, this person travelled. And, if confirmed, this will be two known cases in Antigua & Barbuda,” he said.
According to Minister Joseph, there is an urgent need to move swiftly to eliminate the conditions conducive to the Aedes egypti mosquito’s survival. Hence, the need to forge ahead with immediate plans to get the campaign started on Monday July 11.
Joseph confirmed that the intention is to declare war on the mosquito and the island-wide clean-up campaign will be comprised of two phases.
As part of the first phase, the minister revealed that commencing next week Monday, a task force of 80 workers will undertake the responsibility of scoping out all the areas in 16 constituencies in Antigua & Barbuda, where there is a need to eliminate any favourable conditions to breed mosquitoes.
“Each constituency will have a team of five people from five different agencies of government. Central Board of Health, National Solid Waste, Local Government Community Development, Police and the Defense Force.
“The five-person team in each constituency will be asked to visit every resident to conduct an assessment of the environmental conditions in that particular place of residence, “ he added.
Joseph said the rationale behind combining these various groups was to rely mainly on their experience and expertise in their respective fields.
“This plan has been in the making for a number of months,” said the minister, and is now ready to be executed. He believes the assessment period is expected to last about three to four weeks.
After the assessment is completed, the second phase of the programme will be the actual nation-wide clean-up.
The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rashes, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes).
The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. For this reason, many people might not realise they have been infected.
However, Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause a serious birth defect called microcephaly, as well as other severe fetal brain defects. Once a person has been infected, he or she is likely to be protected from future infections.
The country recorded its first confirmed case of Zika in May this year.
