Four cases of dengue fever have been reported in the territory since the passage of Hurricane Irma, according to Medical Officer of Health Dr. Ronald Georges.
However, he said, there’s no reason to be alarmed.
“It’s actually a lot less than we would have expected given the damage to the territory,” Dr. Georges explained.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control issued a risk report for the Virgin Islands and other affected locations, which concluded that cases of dengue and other mosquito-borne illnesses likely would increase in the wake of the storm.
In particular, the report found that increased populations of the main culprit, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, “may lead to an upsurge in … dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika.” There have been no reported cases of the latter two diseases in the VI since Irma, according to Dr. Georges.
Challenges
Chief Environmental Health Officer Lionel Michael added, “One of the challenges we have since the storm is the number of abandoned houses that have been damaged with roofs blown off.”
He also said that there has been difficulty in accessing those breeding places to treat them for mosquitoes.
However, he said, the low number of confirmed illnesses suggests that efforts by the Environmental Health Division to reduce mosquitoes are working.
“We’re conducting inspections, assessments and subsequent treatment of all mosquito breeding places that we have identified,” Mr. Michael said. “We do this on a daily basis.”
He added that fogging machines and chemicals to kill larvae and adult mosquitoes all play a role.
“We are armed to carry out the fight against the mosquito, but we need public cooperation,” he said. “Communities have been playing their part.”
Homeowners, he added, also play a vital role in controlling mosquitoes by “eliminating breeding places, cover[ing] water containers [and] overflow pipes with wire mesh and dispos[ing] of solid waste properly in containers to assist the environmental authority in the BVI by properly destroying waste so they can move it easily.”
VG programme
BugOut, a Virgin Gorda-based vector control programme, has also teamed up with the non-profit Green VI to work to reduce the number of mosquito breeding sites in the community.
Their aim is to avoid spreading dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases with what they term “the three C’s”: cleaning up standing water, covering up with shirts and long trousers, and communicating with neighbours and colleagues to do their part.
Dengue is caused by a virus spread through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Symptoms include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, rash and joint pain, and occasionally more severe symptoms that can be fatal, according to the United States Centres for Disease Control.
Symptoms can take up to two weeks to develop, and usually last for about a week.
{fcomment}