Cayman Update as of 14 July 2014

• Since the last update of July 11, 2014, two new cases are under investigation for dengue and chikungunya. Both cases are from Savannah.
• Of the four cases investigated, three have tested positive, (two from Cayman Brac and one from George Town), one test result is negative (from George Town).
• All three cases are travel associated – travel history is to Guyana (2) and the Dominican Republic (1).

Both dengue and chikungunya are transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Symptoms of dengue include fever, headache, muscle aches, joint pains, pain behind the eyes, and rash. Among chikungunya symptoms are fever, joint pains, muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash.

While joint pain is predominant in chikungunya, as muscle pain is in dengue, both illnesses share some clinical signs that can be misdiagnosed. For this reason, patients with these symptoms are investigated for both dengue and chikungunya. The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) also tests, blood samples for both viruses.

Regional updates can be accessed by visiting the CARPHA website on http://carpha.org/What-We-Do/Public-Health-Activities/Chikungunya

and US updates can be had by accessing CDC on http://www.cdc.gov/chikungunya/geo/united-states.html

Government officials meet on Chikungunya

Government officials from several agencies met on 2 July 2014, to outline a proactive approach to tackling any outbreak of the chikungunya virus in the Cayman Islands.

Public Health organised the meeting of various stakeholders at the Cayman Islands Hospital.

Discussions ranged from existing preparedness and control measures, to testing protocols, contingency planning for an outbreak, and international cooperation. Participants also discussed staff and public education, as well as how stakeholders would communicate going forward.

Representatives from the Health Services Authority, Mosquito Research and Control, Environmental Health, Customs, Agriculture and the Department of Tourism were present. The Ministries of Health and Tourism, the Airports Authority, and Hazard Management Cayman Islands were also in attendance.

The Cayman Islands confirmed its first travel associated case of chikungunya on 30th of June 2014. As of July 14, the total confirmed cases (all travel associated) reached to three.

Officials urge travellers to see a doctor at once, if they experience joint pains, fever and vomiting within two weeks of returning from another Caribbean country or south-east Asia.

As a preventative measure the public is asked to remove anything that might hold standing water from around their properties.

More than two dozen countries in the region have reported cases of the viral, mosquito-borne illness. To determine if the country to which you are travelling has chikungunya, please contact the Public Health Department at 244-2648

Minister of Health Hon. Osborne Bodden said that he was confident that with cooperation and regular communication the public sector would succeed in its efforts to control the disease in the Cayman Islands.

Photo: by Public Health

Caption

1. Medical Officer of Health Dr Kiran Kumar led a meeting of stakeholders involved in the response to chikungunya. Topics covered included present preventive actions and contingency plans.

Jamaica investigates first possible case of chikungunya virus

From Caribbean360

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Wednesday July 16, 2014, CMC – The Ministry of Health is investigating a suspected case of the Chikungunya virus in an individual who travelled from an affected country and fell ill.

In a release late Tuesday, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Kevin Harvey said the individual had screening tests done at a private laboratory which indicated the illness, following which a sample was taken and sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad for confirmation.

Should this be positive it will confirm Jamaica’s first imported case of the chikungunya virus.

“This does not indicate local spread of the virus and we continue to monitor persons living in and around areas visited by the individual. We have heightened our vector control activities to reduce the possibility of local spread,” Harvey explained.

He said Ministry of Health has been putting measures in place for more than two years in anticipation of chikungunya virus.

There is no specific treatment for the chikungunya virus nor is there a vaccine.

“The Aedes aegypti is a day biting mosquito that will almost always be found in and around areas where people live, work and play. The mosquito breeds in water that settles around homes, schools, churches, workplaces and playgrounds,” he said.

To date, twenty-eight countries in the Caribbean and Latin American Region have reported cases of Chikungunya with a total of 5,227 confirmed.

For more on this story go to: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/jamaica-investigates-possible-first-case-of-chikungunya-virus?utm_source=Caribbean360%20Newsletters&utm_campaign=52f5342451-Vol_9_Issue_141_News7_16_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_350247989a-52f5342451-39393477