Cuban health authorities admit dengue and yellow fever outbreaks
The Cuban Public Health Ministry (MINSAP) this week again called on people's support to help eradicate the proliferation of the dengue transmitter Aedes aegypti mosquito during the summer months, when vector-associated diseases are on the increase.
The reiteration of the announcement follows reports that dengue has claimed its first human life in the province of Camaguey where there is a red alert health emergency.
In remarks to local television, MINSAP National Vector Control Director Juan Ramon Vazquez stated that people's perception of risk is low, while there has been a marked increase in mosquito infestation levels in 23 municipalities this summer.
According to the expert, “Cuba has a security and vector control system higher than that of many nations, thanks to a trained army of activists and the acquisition of resources to face the problem, but individual efforts in the task are essential”.
Heat, humidity and abundant rain create the ideal breeding ground for the proliferation of the mosquito, which transmits dangerous diseases such as dengue and yellow fever, he said.
According to the official report, about 98 municipalities of Cuba have confirmed outbreaks of dengue and the presence of the mosquito. In 75 of them, infestation rates have not reached the level of disease transmission. The most critical situation was found in the capital Havana and 15 municipalities and the main cities of Pinar del Rio, Camagüey, Las Tunas, Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Santa Clara, Bayamo and the Isle of Youth.
The first death was reported by the Café Fuerte website and the victim was described as a young woman, 35 years old.
“Although every effort was made to save her, when she arrived at the hospital, her platelets were less than 100, presenting a very complicated clinical picture” indicated one worker from the Provincial Hospital of Camaguey to the website.
At an August 8 meeting of the Camaguey Provincial Public Health Office a red alert health emergency was declared, reports the website.
“We can’t be sure that this is indeed the first casualty, since hospitals and schools have taken measures to accommodate those infected by dengue and cholera, and these are controlled by State Security to prevent information from leaking” said Camaguey resident Santos Fernandez Sanchez, according to Café Fuerte.
A cholera outbreak was reported a couple of months ago which Cuban officials first denied, later admitted but since then there has been a complete information blackout.
The Pan American Health Organization recently warned about the resurgence of dengue cases in Central America and the Caribbean during the second half of 2012. It said more than a million cases of dengue fever and 719 related deaths were recorded in the region in 2011.
Cuban authorities believe that bad press on diseases could have a negative impact on tourism which is the island’s main source of foreign currency.
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17 comments Feed
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Mmmm. When the first tourist dies due to their stupidity that will signal THE END of tourism in Cuba, except for the likes of Blind_Scottie_Kirchner who still have red tinted glasses when it comes to commies.
Stupid bastards.
Dengue is a man-made disease, created by the yanqui imperialists to target drug cartels, Muslims and Mercosur....just look at the map:
www.healthmap.org/dengue/index.php
I think you may mean SPREAD by Americans, not MADE by man!
This from Oxford University (UK) Zoology Dept.:
”This reveals that dengue virus has a relatively recent evolutionary history, with the four serotypes originating approximately 1000 years ago and only establishing endemic transmission in humans in the last few hundred years.
Dengue is also prevalent in North Australia to my certain knowledge.
The Americans, before they realised that Dengue was a killer, spread it around Miami in the 60's to 'see how it transmitted'. I have no idea if the CIA used it in LatAm.
It does not alter the fact that hiding health dangers from tourists is a really, really stupid thing to do.
@4 Englander
Argentina has had all sorts of health problems for years.
PirateLove: how's the spag bol?
You have absolutely NO right to post that @6 you traitorous bastard.
Is BK a traitor for his opinions? Or you for avoiding taxes?
Shows how far your freedoms goes. Especially your own ones...
No, I did not run from paying taxes in the UK, and if you had read my previous posts you would know that I am paying taxes on my pensions in the UK, some of which goes for the traitorous bastard to live in Scotland both from the subsidies we pay for their 'government' and for his benefits.
I also pay tax in Uruguay on my income from my investments for which I have worked all my life for. No-one has ever given me a free ride like that deluded 'queen' of Argentina lover has taken all his life.
I had thought that you understood my situation better than this, but I now see that your skewed views on socialism and the left knows no bounds.
It genuinely saddens me that you were quick to judge me erroneously and take the sides of what many Brits would see as a traitor.
I understand your situation, was merely feeding you what you serve others.
I do not agree that these deaths are something to celebrate at all, far from it.
However, the point I was attempting to make was that your two commie mates are deliberately making things worse by hiding the reality from people not yet exposed to the threats. Perhaps some people would decide to come anyway.
Anyone who has already had dengue would most certainly NOT (a second dengue attack can prove fatal in many cases).
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