7 News Belize

Can They Contain ZIKA?
posted (June 9, 2016)
And the rains coming down translates into multiplying mosquito populations. Now the Ministry of Health doesn't have a specific ZIKA response plan but what they do have is a vector control plan of action. The Principal Public Health Inspector believes that they can use it to contain the Zika virus before it becomes an epidemic. John Bodden told us more.

John Bodden, Health Disaster Focal Point
"Belize can boast of having a very good program from the 1970's. We started with a vector control program which targeted malaria specifically and then eventually it rolled out. It has been operational and it has been functioning since then. I think that has been one of the benefits for the country in terms of reducing the number of cases because it's not just today we're starting to look at implementing strategies to control the vector. It has been an ongoing work and so we find ourselves in a better position than many other countries who are just introducing a vector control program."

Emanuel Pech
"What are the possibilities of the vector borne disease in particular? I mentioned this because it is current in particular the Zika virus, what are the possibilities of this becoming now an epidemic?"

John Bodden, Health Disaster Focal Point
"Well that is not the trend that we are seeing, in fact if that would've been the case, we would see much more cases already. So whatever we are seeing right now is more a control environment. The cases are very few and so we don't perceive it to reach that level."

So far there have only been two confirmed cases of the Zika virus in the country.

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