News: Belize health authorities confirm dengue outbreak

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Belize health authorities confirm dengue outbreak

By Patrick Jones
Caribbean Net News Belize Correspondent
Email: patrick@caribbeannetnews.com

BELIZE CITY, Belize -- Belizean health authorities have confirmed an outbreak of the deadly dengue hemorrhagic fever in western Belize.

The outbreak was confirmed in the Cayo district, which is 70 miles from Belize City, on the western border with Guatemala.

According to the Ministry of Health, 114 dengue cases have been confirmed in Cayo between July 4 and July 14, which is why, prompting the authorities to issue an advisory to the general public. A statement from the Health ministry here says that the Central Medical Laboratory in Belize City had confirmed 45 new cases of dengue and "a number of specimens await confirmation.

Of the 114 confirmed dengue cases, the Ministry of Health says that 17 cases were clinically diagnosed as Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever, the majority of which came from the Cayo District.

Deputy Director of Health Services Marjorie Parks says that Dengue fever is endemic to Belize and as such "it is expected that there will be sudden occurrences on an annual basis."

Parks says that since the outbreak is in the western part of the country, in close proximity to the border with Guatemala, "a slight increase in the number of cases is expected because the neighboring town of Melchor de Mencos, Guatemala is considered a hotspot for the disease."

Parks says that the Ministry of Health has already begun an awareness campaign on proper health practices to avoid the fever by destroying breeding grounds for the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which is the vector responsible for the spread of Dengue Fever.

As a result of the outbreak, Belizean health officials have stepped up efforts to contain the spread of the disease, and measures include an increase in ultra-low volume (ULV) spray cycles especially in the Cayo District.

The Ministry of Health has also embarked on a public education campaign to inform the general public on ways to prevent the transmission of Dengue and Vector Control personnel from the Ministry of Health are now going house to house in the affected area to conduct premise inspections, identification of breeding sites and the elimination of larvae.

Dengue fever is a flu-like illness spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a severe, often fatal, complication of dengue fever.

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