Four more cases of the dreaded Zika Virus have been confirmed in Dominica.
The island reported its first case of the virus last month.
“It is five now,” Chief Environmental Health Officer, Anthony Scotland said during an interview on state-owned DBS Radio on Wednesday.
He stated the emphasis now has to be on prevention.
“To prevent mosquito bites, to prevent mosquitoes being around you…” he noted.
He warned that persons should avoid creating sources where mosquitoes are able to increase their population.
“It’s an ongoing constant work, it has to become part of us in terms of we understanding the mosquito biology and how to manage it,” he stated. “I see it as becoming part of our lives right now.”
The Zika virus is transmitted by the bite of an infected Aedes Aegypti mosquito, the same mosquito that transmits Chikungunya and Dengue.
Symptoms that include fever, joint and muscle pain, conjunctivitis, headache, weakness, rash and swelling of the lower limbs.
In Dominica, a Health Risk Management Task Force has been activated to review and refine management strategies and guidelines that have been shaping the Health Ministry’s response to the disease.
Additionally, fogging activities have been initiated in areas of high Aedes Aegypti mosquito infestation across the island.
When the first case of the virus was announced last month, Health Minister Dr. Kenneth Darroux said there was no need for alarm.
Still no need to be alarmed Mr. Darraux? You guys are truly the best! If a tsunami was on its way to wipe us out I bet you would say the very same, telling us to relax we will be alright while the P.M. and his closest ministers and friends are airlifted to safety. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why I was ever a Labourite!
How can this not be a concern for a Minister of tourism? We are lost. Young couples on holiday who are pregnant, trying to get pregnant or might become pregnant have been advised not to travel to countries with Zika. Dominica is listed as a destination that HAS Zika. Here is the link http://www.cdc.gov/zika/. Dominica has been promoting itself as a romantic destination for weddings, honeymoons and romantic escapes. 2 of our most recognized hotels rely on this type of tourism. But we are not worried. Be happy.
When knowledge of the first case was reported our knowledgeable minister of health instead of encouraging the citizens to be on the alert empathised that there is no need for alarm!
Not inspiring at all!!!!!!!
Nuff said!
This is so messed up, If someone has the Zika symptom and they are tested, when the results are return the doctors and nurses don’t tell you that you are a victim all they will say is we have another Zika case. This is just rubbish. period! Them people must stop hiding information from even the very people that are infected.
I am not surprised. A large majority on Dominican are just malpop, nasty when it comes to their environment. Old vehicles, white goods etc all over the place. As a member of the public you speak to the relevant authorities, nothing is done. Nohing is implemented, we are so inactive, just talk talk talk, people receiving a salary under false pretence. To chou to flam. Its business as usual which transalates into same old, same old.
So in what communities are these cases? What’s the secret? Doesn’t the public have a right to know?
The real Zika – fogging to disperse toxic chemicals; pesticides to pollute our food and water supply and the vaccinne when there is NO SCIENCE that says categorically that the mozzies give babies big heads! Hey politicians, what is going on, why the big lies?
CDC confirmed it. Click here if you want to read the science. http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/s0413-zika-microcephaly.html
The same CDC that has the patent on ebola and HIV? The same CDS that sanctioned polio vaccines which contained cancer-causing elements to be given to 98 million Americans? http://www.infowars.com/cdc-sends-fact-sheet-linking-polio-vaccine-to-cancer-down-the-memory-hole/
This kind of science will kill us all, don’t you think?
Scotland that is Zika.
Facts, you once accuse me of plagiarizing: The following I did not learn when I majored in Health Science, Netherlands when I first heard of Zika, I put myself out to research it and learn about it, that is why I can provide you with the following information: I gathered when the disease was in its infancy stage.
THREE cases of a virus linked to brain damage in babies and a syndrome which can cause paralysis have been reported in the UK, as health officials warn of a pandemic across continents.
The mosquito-borne Zika virus is expected to spread through the Americas and pregnant women have been warned to consult their doctors before travelling to any countries within the danger zone.
Four of the affected countries have also told women to avoid pregnancy as the virus has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly – which causes babies to be born with tiny heads and brain damage.
It has also been linked to the life-threatening Guillain-Barre syndrome which can leave…
It has also been linked to the life-threatening Guillain-Barre syndrome which can leave people paralysed and dependent on life support.
Canada and Chile are the only countries in North and South America expected to escape the outbreak while the three UK people affected are thought to have contracted the virus in Colombia, Suriname and Guyana.
News of the three cases comes as the US centre for Disease Control (CDC) issued a travel warning for a total of 22 countries, including the tourist-reliant Cape Verde islands off West Africa.
Last week it was confirmed that a case of brain damage in a new-born baby had been linked to the Zika virus in Hawaii.
If I were you I would do plenty of research, study the subject you wish to comment on, know some factual about it before you start writing nonsense, you are not so smart, and your constant nonsensical rhetoric exposes your lack of any form of sound education.
According to Mr. Tonge… He has 99 problems and Zika is not one of dem.
I love this comment.
Zika is a global problem, it is rampant in Brazil yet hundreds of thousands if not millions will be heading to Brazil for the Olympics this summer. It is not life threatening so let’s just keep our environment clean.
It is life threatening. It has killed many unborn babies. It can also cause Guillain-Barre syndrome which is life threatening when it paralyzes the diaphragm. Brazil is nervous now because of extremely low ticket sales, probably due to Zika.
“He warned that persons should avoid creating sources where mosquitos are able to increase their population. ” Mr. Scotland, when last you all visited the Mosquito hotel aka Moroccan hotel in portsmouth? I can tell you Skerrit and Ian Douglas have created a breeding ground for mosquitos in the mosquito, Moroccan hotel, and I have no doubt that Skerrit has done a very good job in fooling every room of the hotel with mosquitos which will encourage Zika.
Hey, NWO, ease up will you?
You know that we are stupid and afraid already, just give us the Zika vaccine – we’ll take it (anyway!)
Earthquake in Portsmouth, snow in Guadeloupe courtesy of HAARP? Don’t worry, we already believe that it is all of us in Dominica that is causing climate change/ global warming, etc. and we accept that we must reduce our numbers, pay higher fuel prices and curb our consumption dramatically by not getting pregnant/ culling our old folk!
Such satire!
Well, Dominicans have nothing to worry about Zika in Dominica, since the mighty minister god of Dominica government Tongue said he is not concern about the disease caused by the virus nor the virus.
When the boss-man Tongue spoke there were two know cases in the country, now there are two more cases, how many unknown are there? When it becomes an epidemic in Dominica Tongue will scream for help!
You know, Dominica government is above and in control of everything but here is the latest as reported by AOL news.
News AOL
CDC confirms alarming news about Zika virus
Health officials concluded Wednesday that infection with the mosquito-borne virus in pregnant women is a cause of severe health abnormalities in babies.
Dangerous conditions it causes
More headlines
FRANCISCO ,shut that stupid big mouth of yours, you and Workers party +supporters think Dominica is the only place on this planet to have problems take a look at the USA what do you see and while you at it take a good at your friends so called Workers Party can that lots do any better for Dominica? Francisco you are a sick joke.
Some things can be prevented; others not except to take precaution.
Surprisingly Zika is in Dominica. The mosquito is traveling. Did someone unknowingly bring it in on them or in their luggage?
If I am not mistaken, I heard approximately 36 countries have the Zika virus. Therefore, it is spreading. At least, so far its bite is not fatal. Let us hope it remains that way and then disappears.
Lady Facts, I see there is no point of me calling you dumb without me trying to help you educationally, hence reading the following may prevent you from asking such foolish questions, and virus came on luggage!
TRANSMITTED through blood, Zika has also been found in human semen although the World Health Organisation said yesterday that more evidence was needed before it could be confirmed that transmission could occur during sex.
Most cases of Zika are caught through bites from an infected female Aedes mosquito.
Discovered in Uganda in 1947, the first outbreak reported outside Africa and Asia was on Yap Island in the Federated States of Micronesia in 2007 and after spreading through the Pacific it was found in Brazil last year.
It is thought it may have arrived during the World Cup in 2014 or via a team from French Polynesia who took part in a canoe race in Rio de Janeiro a few weeks later.
Typical symptoms are a low-grade fever, joint pain, rash, red eyes,…
Typical symptoms are a low-grade fever, joint pain, rash, red eyes, headaches, muscle pain and eye pain.
Serious complications and deaths from Zika are not common.
However, recent increases in congenital anomalies, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and other neurological and auto-immune syndromes are being reported in areas where outbreaks have occurred.
And people are still filling buckets and of water and leaving them uncovered for the mosquitoes to lay in and for rats to drink….some doh understand and some stubborn…lepto spiros adn zika go kill us
in which areas or villages was the virus found? is it in the E ,W, N, or south
The ministry of health should realize by now that the Aedes Aegypti mosquito is a carrier of diseases and should always be on our agenda to be wiped out and that should never be stopped. Dengue, Chickongonia,
Zika. In a little time it will be another. Getting rid of that mosquito should be constant
Maybe you guys should tell us where in Dominica these cases are now!
5 is too much to be kept a secret.
Other countries state the region where the victims reside, for example Castries, St. Lucia, so why can’t we???? It won’t hurt, it will only help. Human nature is to be proactive when we strongly feel we WILL be affected.
While we took away a large amount of white goods, the drains containing stagnant water and mock still plague certain areas. That drain in the middle of Gutter Village down to S Mart and EH Charles, it needs constant clearing and nobody seems to have that on their agenda. That is just one of a number of large drains that can be found around the town and many of the villages. Will the people contracted with the NEP be mandated to do the cleaning!!!!
Sad to say but that drain problem is round the island. No maintenance!
What village we should all know
listen to the areas they doing the most fogging..Stockfarm tarish pit, gutter, yam piece. that\’s where the advertisement say they will be fogging..lets put one and one together we get the answer…
keep ur areas clean and free from breeding sites.
Where on the island have the cases been reported? Have the spraying efforts ramped up? What proactive or reactive measures have been implemented?
LuClu
A good question on where the cases are, but I believe the Ministry and the Environmental Health Department have taken a lot of proactive measures ahead of the virus arriving in Dominica but believe it or not, there are people continuing to brazenly keep open drums of water, old tyres and refrigerators in their yards, pots of plants with water, you name it.
Unfortunately, the mosquitoes will not remain in their yards only and bite them and their children only. I can’t believe how untidy and unclean some people are. The Ministry did not have to tell anyone to keep their surroundings clean to prevent mosquitoes and rodents but even with all of that sensitisation, old habits just die hard.
Almost everyday you hear of some other residual effect of the Zika virus which is becoming quite frightening, but some Dominicans could care less. I guess if they get Zika it is one more nail in Mr. Skerrit’s political coffin. Unbelievable!
That is true….there were proactive measures with spraying and no one should have to tell anyone to keep their surroundings clean, you should have enough pride to take care of them. So now what are the reactive measures has the spraying efforts ramped up? The lingering effects of Zika are alarming and a cause for great concern.
This is an important matter which reminds me of the letter i sent to the envromental health dept plus my two visits to that office, and my call to Q95 where i was told to pour some desiel into the drain at the wesley Government school which at the time had 18inches of stagnant water .of interest is the fact that this is not only in the school yard but there is a playing field used by the children during the day and adults and teenagers use till ten at night. This is a cement drain which has no outlet. Since nothing was done up to my depature from wesley i found IT necessary to write again to the environmental health and to THE health departments hoping the threat of zika will get them ofF theIr rear end to do something about this.INSTEAD OF THE CONSTANT LIP SERVICE
So instead of writing and complaining why don’t we do our part in cleaning instead of sitting and depend on others to keep our environment clean?
Beverly
I quess your question is directed to me .if you are in the village go take a look that drain is sometimes cleaned by the village council to remove the soda , bottles , snack wrapers ,papers and ect. but that is not the problem .that is a solid cement drain built during construction of the school causing water to wash away people’s yard then it was blocked with a solid cement partition creating a canal / insect incubater or hatchery and need to be taken care of by finding some kind of soaker away .O i did not need to be told to put something in the drain as i did very often but that is not the solution that needs govrrnment attention .not lip service
Mr. Dominica what do you want to say construction of the school or construction of the hard court?
I realy mean the school and the problem is the drain was blocked as a means of correcting a mistake which then created a canal
http://www.sciencealert.com/this-innovative-mosquito-egg-trap-could-help-in-the-fight-against-zika
Dominica had 99 problems and now Zika is one
Meanwhile I wonder if the tourism minister Mr. Tonge “still isn’t overly concerned about the Zika virus” like he was saying the other day. That’s negligence form you Mr. Tonge shown in form of lack of precaution when dealing with the tourists. Part of your job is to protect them while they’re on the island, not try to milk every $$$ that you can from their pockets. Interpol need to take both Tonge and Skeritt and lock them up in a room that is filled with these friendly beast aedes aegypti mosquitos so that they could feel the pain the poor people are going through on the island when they inject their venom in their juicy backsides
Soooo … I guess Mr Tonge and Skerrit can control or stop mosquitoes right?
Technically Yes, they were giving the option to introduce new methods to help kill mosquitoes and they declined.
The Center for Disease Control has confirmed this week, that Zika causes microcephaly and other brain related birth defects, therefore, pregnant women or those who might become pregnant are being advised to avoid travel to countries where there are Zika infections i.e. Dominica. Also Zika now seems to be sexually transmitted in sperm, so men who have traveled to Zika positive counties are being advised to either abstain from sex or to use condoms. Yes, it is that serious.
More important news from the CDC:-
http://www.infowars.com/cdc-sends-fact-sheet-linking-polio-vaccine-to-cancer-down-the-memory-hole/
“The Center for Disease Control and Prevention website curiously deleted pages admitting that the polio vaccine administered from 1955 to 1963 to over 98 million Americans was contaminated with a primate form of cancer virus.
Other CDC web pages also referencing the link between the widely-distributed vaccine and cancer have similarly been discarded.
The pages are still available through Google’s cache system and at the links below:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/updates/archive/polio_and_cancer_factsheet.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/updates/archive/polio_and_cancer.htm
The pages dealt with the fact that the Simian virus 40 (SV40), originally exclusive to monkeys, began appearing in the polio vaccine in 1960…”
Viva La CDC!
We eh see nothing yet. Here goes our World Creole Festival.??????? it is no secret Zika, is a tourism killer.