Three people from the community of Ustupu, district of Ailigandi, on the Panamanian island of Guna Yala have been reported positive for “native” acquired Zika virus infection, the Panamanian Health Ministry announced Thursday (computer translated).
This makes Panama the 10th country in the Western hemisphere to report autochthonous transmission of Zika virus–the others include Brazil, Chile (on Easter Island), Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Suriname, and Venezuela
Health officials remind the public that Zika virus is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, which transmits the dengue and chikungunya virus also.
The Ministry of Health intensified prevention and control in the affected community; both with the elimination of breeding sites, fogging, community education, and to punish those who still have potential breeding was expanded.
The Ministry of Health calls on the community to keep their homes and farms free of mosquito breeding sites saying that to successfully control dengue, Chikungunya and Zika depends on the cooperation of all, organized in neighborhoods / districts / communities to combat the vector.
Robert Herriman is a microbiologist and the Editor-in-Chief of Outbreak News Today and the Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch
Follow @bactiman63
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