In Montego Bay, Jamaica, public health officials in the parish of Westmoreland have activated enhanced monitoring protocols for hantavirus, responding to growing concern across the Caribbean region even as the island nation has yet to document a single verified infection of the disease.
The announcement was made Thursday by Dr. Marcia Graham, Westmoreland’s top Medical Officer of Health, during a regular monthly sitting of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation held in Savanna-la-Mar. In her address to local government leaders, Graham detailed that surveillance efforts have been specifically strengthened at all of Jamaica’s points of entry, including airports and seaports, to block any potential introduction of the virus through cross-border travel.
Graham explained that hantavirus has an unusually wide incubation window, stretching from one week to as long as eight weeks after initial exposure. Because of this extended latent period, any person identified as a potential contact of a confirmed case would be placed under close medical observation and quarantined for a minimum of six weeks to prevent further spread. Despite these proactive measures, Graham emphasized that Jamaica currently has no active suspected or confirmed hantavirus cases being monitored by health authorities.
Beyond surveillance, the medical officer issued a public warning about rampant misinformation surrounding the virus circulating on social media platforms. Fake public health alerts, fraudulently using the official logo of Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness, have been shared widely across local social networks in recent days. Graham urged all Jamaican residents to cross-check any health-related information only through trusted, official sources, naming the national Ministry of Health and Wellness, the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the most reliable outlets for updates.
In addition to the hantavirus update, Graham used the opportunity to reinforce ongoing public health initiatives for the parish. She repeated longstanding calls for community members to step up efforts to eliminate mosquito breeding sites and control rodent populations, two key environmental factors that contribute to the spread of multiple infectious diseases. She also voiced urgent concern over a persistent troubling trend: a high number of childhood accidental poisoning cases in Westmoreland.
“We’re still seeing too many children admitted to the hospital with accidental poisoning,” Graham stated, issuing a direct appeal to parents and caregivers across the parish. She stressed that all hazardous household chemicals, toxic cleaning products, and other dangerous substances must be stored in locked, secure locations that are completely out of the reach of young children to prevent preventable emergency hospitalizations.