TAKE MORE PERSONAL PRECAUTIONS FOR ZIKA VIRUS PREVENTION- PAHO/WHO

The local PAHO/WHO office is advising locals to take more personal precautions against the spread of the Zika virus.

COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE, DR WILLIAM ADU-KROW at the most recent PAHO Brown bag meeting said one way motorists can support the fight against the spread of  Zika is to spray their vehicles daily.

Similarly, PAHO is also urging airlines to ensure that aircraft are sprayed upon landing.

Specifically on international travel, Dr Adu-Krow confirms that PAHO does not recommend any restrictions. According to him, the fact that Guyana was listed by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention among those countries that were “Zika Endemic” was unnecessary and without any basis, especially since at that time the country only had one confirmed case of the virus.

To date, Guyana has only confirmed five cases of Zika, however, the symptoms are similar to those of Dengue Fever and Malaria but milder.

Since November 2015 there have been only 29 newly detected cases of transmission of the Zika Virus in the region.

The virus gets its name from the forest in Uganda, where it was first studied.