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Malaria, Dengue, Chik-V, And Now Zika, Latest Mosquito Borne Malady
posted (November 16, 2015)
Dengue and Chikungunya aren't the only diseases you have to worry about catching when a mosquito bites you. Now there's Zika, another virus that you can get from the same Aedes aegypti mosquito. There were a few cases of Zika in Brazil and Columbia and now the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has confirmed, five cases of Zika virus in the Caribbean. More worryingly, there are concerns that there might be cases in El Salvador. Now, Zika is called Dengue's first cousin and the symptoms are similar. But Chief of Operations for the Vector Control Program at the Ministry of Health Kim Bautista told us that there is no reason to be alarmed because there are no confirmed cases in Belize nor in neighboring countries. Bautista told us more about this virus and what can be done to keep safe.

Kim Bautista, Chief of Operations - Vector Control Program
"Zika virus is a virus belonging to a member of the group of viruses which includes the more common dengue virus. The West Nile virus is also a member of that family of viruses and also yellow fever. So it's a pretty old disease. The name Zika comes from the Zika Forest in Uganda where this virus was discovered in monkeys in the wild and thereafter between the 60s and the 70s it was detected in humans. So it's a virus that they've seen small outbreaks in certain parts of Asia and Africa over the years. Zika came on radar last year when I believe somewhere around the time that they had the FIFA World Cup - they had seen some cases in Brazil, thereafter they had seen some cases in Colombia. Over the past year they also confirmed cases in the Dominican Republic and in Surinam and more recently El Salvador has had some concerns about this disease and had sent some possible samples to CDC in Atlanta."

"First of all it is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti Mosquito which Belizeans are familiar with. And so now you are dealing with a mosquito that could transmit both dengue, Chikungunya and now Zika. So one mosquito with the possibility of transmitting several diseases. So with that those 3 diseases they have similar symptoms; being fever, headaches, pain in the eyes, joint pain, rash and swelling of the joints. With Zika what we've seen in the region is that those symptoms also come along with some conjunctivitis. So those are some of the symptoms that you could look out for. In terms of vector control and prevention and control - it's basically the same efforts, simply because it's the same mosquito we are dealing with. So we encourage the public again to ensure that drains in front of their premises are free flowing. Try to drain out stagnant water from their yards, containers that hold water mosquitoes could breed in to get rid of those. We don't have any clinical cases in country. As a matter of fact none of the countries within Central America has confirmed, but because of the experience that we see it, the Chikungunya virus spread throughout the region within less than 12 months. The possibility is there that the same could happen with Zika."

Again, there is no reason to be alarmed because there are no confirmed cases in Belize and those samples that were sent from El Salvador are not confirmed. A part from that, there are no reports that anyone has died from the Zika virus so it is not as serious as Dengue and Chikungunya.

So while this virus is relatively new to this region, Dengue and Chikungunya are not and Bautista told us Belize City has seen dramatic improvements in terms of cases.

Kim Bautista, Chief of Operations - Vector Control Program
"We've quite a bit of success in Belize City this year. We've seen quite a turnaround in Belize City which was traditionally one of the areas where you would have most dengue cases. This year we tend to see more cases in Corozal and the Cayo District. As a matter of fact, we've done quite a bit of activities in Belize City. As recent as the flooding, we had teamed up with PAHO and certain areas in Southside we had distributed I believe it was mosquito coils, family insect repellent and also several aerosols. Basically to prevent mosquito bites in those areas."

Bautista told us there has been at least a 40% decrease in Dengue cases in Belize City but an increase in Corozal and in the Cayo District.

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