“The
capacity of our laboratory will be crucial in the event that we need to test
for Ebola. I would like to assure you that we will continue to enjoy the
support of the University of the West Indies Virology Lab, the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, and the Caribbean Public Health Agency for
testing if needed”
Minister of Health, Dr.
Fenton Ferguson speaking at a News Press Conference on Thursday August 7th
2014 on the level of preparedness Jamaica has against the Ebola Virus
And
now there are four. There are now four persons infected with the Chikungunya Virus
as confirmed by the Minister of Health Dr. Fenton Ferguson as stated in the
article “Health
ministry tackles chikungunya as two new cases confirmed”, published Friday,
August 08, 2014, The Jamaica Observer.
 |
The
first Chikungunya Virus case that caught my eye was on Thursday July 17th
2014 about which I did an article based on information from a Call Center
Contact of mine in my blog article
entitled “Chikungunya
Virus now confirmed in Jamaica - Female Traveller From Florida via Puerto Rico
and How to fight Chic-V”. This was a woman from Portmore who travelled from
Puerto Rico then Florida and back to Jamaica and may have picked up the
infection there before coming to Jamaica
Since
then a second case was confirmed on Monday July 28th 2014, I haven’t
been able to get more info from my usual Call Center source on who that persons
was, only to say that it was an imported case also. But the recent news is of
greater importance, as these two additional persons infected by the Chikungunya
Virus are an indication of local spread i.e. It’s no longer imported.
The
Two persons, who apparently reported being ill, were tested and their blood
samples sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency, who confirmed that they
were indeed infected by the Chikungunya Virus on the afternoon of Tuesday,
August 5th 2014. They become the first two known Jamaican infected
via Local Transmission i.e. they got bitten by a Aedes aegypti Mosquito that’s infected with the Chikungunya Virus.
Luckily
there is a cure for the Chikungunya Virus as detailed in my blog article
entitled “How
to fight Illness including Chikungunya Virus using Spices - US$40 Joseph Joseph
SpiceStore Carousel helps you organize”.
Four persons with
Chikungunya Virus – Ebola Virus will have a field day spreading in Jamaica
To
this end, the Ministry of Health is now on a Fever Watch, tracking every
occurrence of Fever that’s reported to any local Clinic or Public Hospital islandswide,
to quote the Minister of Health, Dr. Fenton Ferguson at a News Press Conference on Thursday August 7th 2014:
“Fever surveillance and contact investigation are still taking place. We have
also increased the capacity of the vector control teams across the island by
providing additional equipment and supplies. The public health team has put in
place vector control measures at the commercial offices of one of the affected
persons. Health educators have been conducting education sessions and distributing
material in the affected communities”.
Ok,
gentle people, now we’ve got an epidemic on our hands and the Ministry of
Health has activated their EOC (Emergency Operations Centre)…... now what? Well
Ebola Virus is next and it is coming to Jamaica, as truth be told, Jamaican
Doctors are in no way equipped to deal with an Ebola Epidemic.
After
all, if they couldn’t stop the spread of Chikungunya Virus, then the Ebola Virus
is only a plane ride away as noted in the article “Health ministry
advise against non-essential travel to Ebola affected countries” Published
Friday August 8, 2014 3:35 pm, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
Chikungunya Virus Local
spread – Chic-V on the Loose because Hurricane Season Just Turn Up
Folks,
it’s like I’m some kinda prophet, no?
After
all, to my credit in my blog article above, I did predict that a local spread
was in the offing, as it’s next to near impossible to quarantine people at an
airport.
Travellers,
knowing that they’ve just come from a country that’s infected and seeing that
Customer can impound them indefinitely if they’re from a country that’s got the
Chikungunya Virus, will naturally lie in order to get through Customs smoothly.
That can only be determined by the Customs Officers knowing beforehand that a
group of passengers coming through the gates are indeed from one of the listed infected
countries.
Even
then, if quarantined, those facilities are just not at the airport. If the
facility for quarantine is not close to the airport, then it stands to reason
that in being transported from the airport to that facility, they might end up
being bitten along the way by mosquitoes and thus unknowingly the spread would
have begun.
Add
to that fact that the Rains have decided to start falling at last. But that
means any containers that are filling up with water will create breeding ground
for the Aedes aegypti Mosquito, who
will be aggressively breeding, especially in parts of Jamaica are close to
where these four infected persons live. To that end, the EOC has heightened
surveillance of symptoms in the following three parishes:
1.
Kingston and St Andrew
2.
St Thomas
3.
St Catherine
EOC needs to set up a field hospital at the
Norman Manley International Airport and once aircraft from the Caribbean and
Florida land, they will be required to submit saliva, urine and blood samples
for immediate testing by EOC along with their Contact Credentials i.e. Name
Address and phone number. This would of course be explained to passengers
before they disembark from the airplane. If they’re infected with either Chikungunya
Virus or Ebola Virus, they can be found and quarantined immediately.
Jamaica,
we’re standing on the edge of an Abyss. Chikungunya Virus will be Africa and
the Caribbean’s Dark Horse Gift for Christmas 2014 as they only way to develop
immunity is to get sick and recover! Jamaica therefore needs to keep track of
anyone from any French speaking island i.e. Haiti, as well as from Florida as
these are the main travel gateways by which persons carrying the disease will
travel.
No comments:
Post a Comment