According to a media reports, the Minister of Public Health of Dominican Republic, Altagracia Guzman Marcelino announced on January 7 that at least five cases of febrile rash illness with similar clinical characteristics to Zika virus have been detected in the country and the samples have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta for testing. The test results are expected next week.

According to the Minister of Public Health, the CDC results are important because they confirm whether the virus is circulating in the country or not. The Minister also explained that samples were taken from patients in different parts of the country and one of them presented conjunctivitis in addition to fever and rash.
The Minister indicated that active surveillance at ports and airports have been conducted to detect febrile visitors who may be arriving by plane or cruise ship. The travellers who are exhibiting symptoms will also be immediately submitted to the office that is established to evaluate and monitor them epidemiologically.

Marcelino Guzman mentioned that the key now is that people will join preventive actions, eliminate containers that can become breeding grounds of the Aedes aegypti mosquitos.The director of the National Health Service (NHS), Ramon Alvarado, has also informed that training of all personnel working in hospitals has been initiated in order to detect and diagnose the virus clinically. He has instructed any suspected cases to be notified immediately.

Ministry of Defense reported that it has conducted spraying and carried out elimination of mosquito breeding sites in support of the Ministry of Public Health preventive measures against dengue and Zika virus. The operation was carried out in the El Café de Herrera where 41 members of the Ministry of Defense participated. The personnel found 372 positive breeding sites in 239 houses of that area.

Listin Diario