The garbage and stagnant water favor the proliferation of the culex mosquito, which transmits the disease
14ymedio, Havana, June 25, 2024 — In a statement issued on Monday, the Ministry of Public Health reported cases of Oropouche Fever in 23 municipalities in nine provinces: Matanzas, Mayabeque, Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, Holguín, Guantánamo, Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos. The text does not mention Havana, despite the fact that various reports collected by this newspaper prove the presence of the disease in the capital.
The infections were identified, says the statement citing Dr. Francisco Durán, national director of Epidemiology, after taking samples in the national reference laboratory of the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK), in Havana.
The clinical picture presents the infection as “mild,” according to the authorities, with an incubation period of between five and seven days, which is characterized by fever, headaches, muscle and joint pains; vomiting and diarrhea are also reported.
“Associated with the virus in a group of patients observed, on the sixth day a picture similar to the initial one appears, which leaves no aftermath and is not associated with the appearance of serious forms or deaths,” the ministry states. On June 8, Yosmany Mayeta, an independent journalist living in the United States, reported on Facebook the death of a young man who spent three days in a Santiago hospital with symptoms of Oropouche, although without specifying if he had previous conditions or the verified cause of death.
The clinical picture presents the infection as “mild,” according to the authorities, with an incubation period of between five and seven days
With the spread of the virus, the Government calls on the population to cooperate and asks them to go “immediately to the health system with the appearance of symptoms,” as well as to “support and carry out their own sanitation initiatives in homes, work centers and their surroundings.”
Conditions for stopping the Oropouche outbreak on the Island are not ideal. With the streets full of garbage, which has not been collected in days, plus the stagnant waters left by the rains and the deficient sewer system, the insect that transmits the disease, the culex mosquito, has the ideal environment for its reproduction.
“Without sweeping the streets and blocks, we will all fall victim to this phenomenon,” says Arnoldo Fernández, from Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba, who suffers from the virus. The writer believed he could prevent it by wearing “pants, long-sleeved shirts,” but finally succumbed. “Intense headache, fever of over 100 degrees, burning in the eyes and loss of appetite,” were his symptoms.
From Matanzas, activist Annia Zamora warns of an increase in the number of cases in the province. “There are many sick people who don’t have medication. I live in a small town where there is no ambulance; the sick increase and the authorities do nothing. Between the virus and the hunger, I don’t know what will happen,” she says.
The insect that transmits the disease, the culex mosquito, has the ideal environment for its reproduction
Without giving case figures, the ministry reported that it has activated health systems on the Island, in a context of “defiant complexities,” due to the fact that, in recent weeks, an increase in the incidence rate of suspected cases of dengue has also been reported, in particular in the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud and in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey, Holguín and Cienfuegos.
“In contrast to Oropouche Fever, the clinical picture of dengue can evolve into serious forms and can cause death, so people need to go to the doctor in a timely manner,” the official statement warns.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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