Officials with the Dominican Republic Ministry of Public Health (MPH) are reporting a dozen Zika virus infection cases, 7 are considered locally acquired while five are travel-associated, according to an El Universo report today (computer translated).

Dominican Republic/CIA
Dominican Republic/CIA

All twelve patients have been treated and are recovering at home.

On Wednesday, the MPH reportedly (computer translated) sent 27 samples of patients with fever in different communities, to include Espaillat, Azua, Duarte, Independencia, Barahona provinces and Greater Santo Domingo, to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for Zika testing.

Health officials will perform fumigation and visits to rural and urban areas to destroy breeding sites of the mosquito vector. About 50 people will be trained on Friday in Machala for prevention activities by Zika virus.

Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Suriname and Venezuela have reported autochthonous transmission in the Americas.

Related: