From The Cayman Islands Public Health Department

Chikungunya/Dengue Cayman Islands update as of 31 January 2015

There have been no newly confirmed local cases of chikungunya reported by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) since the beginning of 2015.

Six results were received, but none tested positive. During this time officials also sent a further five samples for testing, where suspected cases had no travel history to countries experiencing outbreaks.

The total number of confirmed chikungunya cases in 2014 was 44, with an additional 29 possible cases where individuals became symptomatic after travel to endemic areas.

“There have been only three suspected cases per week during the past three weeks. This has been the result of us being out of the rainy season and anti-mosquito measures by the public and Mosquito Research and Control Unit” said the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kiran Kumar.” Let us keep it that way” he added.

There has also been an overall decrease in the number of cases reported in the region. As of 2 February 2015, 21,724 confirmed/probable cases of chikungunya have been reported by all CARPHA Member States and 11 other Caribbean countries/territories since the beginning of the outbreak in the region. The total number of suspected cases is 855,054.

Further information can be obtained through www.hsa.ky. Regional updates can be accessed by visiting the CARPHA website on http://carpha.org/What-We-Do/Public-Health-Activities/Chikungunya. In addition United States updates are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on http://www.cdc.gov/chikungunya/geo/united-states.html.

Dengue Update:

There have been no confirmed cases of dengue since November 2014. All suspected cases of chikungunya are tested for dengue also.

END

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