The Ministry of Public Health issues a statement after numerous complaints from Santiago de Cuba
14ymedio, Madrid, 27 May 2024 — After numerous complaints on social networks from the east of Cuba, the Ministry of Public Health admitted the presence on the Island of Oropouche fever. In a statement issued on Monday, it reports the discovery of the virus in two municipalities of Santiago de Cuba, the capital city, and in Songo La Maya. Without detailing how many cases there are and ignoring the numerous complaints made on social networks, the health authorities say that the virus was detected “through follow-up and surveillance actions of non-specific febrile syndromes.” The samples were analyzed by the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine.
“Great outbreak of epidemic in the Quintero, Santa María and Boniato neighborhoods,” independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada had warned on May 18 in a Facebook post. “Fever, vomiting, among other symptoms, and doctors don’t know what to do.”
“Sometimes, the most severe symptoms include vomiting and bleeding with small red spots on the skin, nosebleeds or bleeding gums”
This Sunday, the reporter, a U.S. resident, again reported: “The disease causes a condition similar to dengue. It is characterized by the sudden appearance of symptoms, including high fever, severe headache, muscle and joint pains. In some cases, there are rashes on the skin. Sometimes, the most severe symptoms include vomiting and bleeding with small red spots on the skin, nosebleeds or bleeding gums. Occasionally meningitis or encephalitis may occur.”
Similarly, he mentioned the Oropouche virus as a possible cause, since “it is hitting the countries of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, and it cannot be ruled out that some person or doctors who are working in these countries have entered the Island sick.”
In its statement on Monday, the Ministry of Health indicates that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) had reported the presence of the disease, transmitted by mosquitoes and gnats, in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Peru, in addition to Ecuador, French Guiana, Panama, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago.
In the same way, he tries to reassure the population, confirming the symptoms of fever, headaches, muscle and joint pains, vomiting and diarrhea, but adding: “Associated with the virus, no serious, critical or death cases have been reported.” As it is a virus, they say, there is no specific treatment, only “general measures to relieve symptoms.”
In addition, they report that “entomo-epidemiological actions are being carried out to cut the chain of transmission and achieve the control of the disease in the shortest possible time.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
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