Dr Marion Bullock DuCasse
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Three additional cases of the Chikungunya disease were conformed in Jamaica on Thursday September 4, the Ministry of Health has reported.
The Ministry has so far confirmed a total of 24 cases for the country. Of this number 21 are from local transmission, two imported and one considered cryptic due to the uncertainty of whether the virus was contracted while travelling overseas or from a household contact.
However, even with the 24 cases, the Health Ministry said that Jamaica has so far been one of the Caribbean countries least impacted by Chikungunya “in terms of the number of confirmed locally transmitted and imported cases”.
Director, Emergency, Disaster Management and Special Services, Dr Marion Bullock DuCasse said that the Ministry will continue its strategies to reduce the spread of the disease but adds that there is a major role for members of the public to achieve this.
“We have to continue 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 should be an ongoing exercise especially since the Aedes aegypti mosquito which spreads Chikungunya is generally found in and around places where people gather,” Dr Ducasse said.
