Carib Scope

分类： health

  • Canadian from hantavirus-hit cruise ship tests positive

    Canadian from hantavirus-hit cruise ship tests positive

    A hantavirus outbreak tied to the Dutch expedition cruise ship MV Hondius has taken another turn, with health officials in British Columbia, Canada confirming a new positive case among passengers who disembarked weeks after the initial cluster emerged in April.

    The infected individual is a Yukon resident who is part of a couple self-isolating on Vancouver Island, one of four Canadian passengers quarantining in the region after leaving the vessel. Officials confirmed the patient has only developed mild symptoms, and none of the four people isolating on Vancouver Island have had any interaction with the general public since entering Canada.

    This new case pushes the total number of confirmed hantavirus infections linked to the cruise to 11, all of which are among former passengers of the vessel. Three passengers who traveled on MV Hondius have died so far, with two of those deaths formally tied to the virus.

    British Columbia’s senior provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, announced that the result returned as a presumptive positive on Friday, meaning it is still awaiting final verification from Canada’s national microbiology laboratory. “Clearly, this is not what we hoped for, but it is what we planned for,” Dr. Henry told reporters in comments carried by Canada’s national public broadcaster CBC.

    Dr. Henry also sought to alleviate public concern by drawing a clear distinction between hantavirus and the more transmissible respiratory viruses that have dominated global public health conversations in recent years, including COVID-19, influenza and measles. “It remains one that we do not consider to have pandemic potential,” she added.

    In total, six Canadian passengers were on board the vessel when the outbreak was detected. Two are currently self-isolating in private residences in Ontario, while the two couples quarantining on Vancouver Island include one pair from British Columbia and the other from Yukon – the home of the newly confirmed case. To date, none of the other five Canadian passengers have tested positive for the virus.

    The MV Hondius departed on its voyage from Argentina on April 1, with the outbreak detected mid-journey. The ship docked in Tenerife, part of Spain’s Canary Islands, less than a week ago to allow all passengers to disembark and enter isolation protocols. The vessel is scheduled to reach its home port of Rotterdam, Netherlands on Monday, where the remaining crew members will leave the ship. The ship’s owner, Oceanwide Expeditions, confirmed that no current staff on board are showing any symptoms of hantavirus infection.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) currently recommends a 42-day isolation period for people exposed to hantavirus. Canadian officials initially required exposed passengers to complete just 21 days of quarantine, but Dr. Henry noted that this timeline is now under review and may be extended to align with global guidance.

    Hantaviruses are primarily carried and spread by wild rodents, but the Andes strain linked to this outbreak – which the WHO believes passengers contracted while visiting destinations in South America – is capable of spreading between humans. Common symptoms of infection include fever, extreme fatigue, widespread muscle aches, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and difficulty breathing. Public health officials have repeatedly emphasized that the risk of a widespread community outbreak from this cluster remains extremely low.

  • WHO declares global health emergency over new Ebola outbreak

    WHO declares global health emergency over new Ebola outbreak

    On Sunday, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally designated the ongoing Ebola outbreak, triggered by the rare Bundibugyo virus, across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring Uganda as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), a move that comes after the outbreak has already claimed 88 lives and sparked more than 300 suspected infections. In a clear distinction from the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, global health leaders emphasized that the current outbreak does not meet the threshold for classification as a pandemic-level emergency, and explicitly advised against the implementation of international border closures to avoid unnecessary disruption to travel and trade.

    In a post to the social platform X, WHO confirmed that a laboratory-verified case of Ebola has now been identified in Kinshasa, the DRC’s densely populated capital located roughly 620 miles from the outbreak’s original epicenter in the country’s eastern Ituri Province. The infected patient had a documented travel history to Ituri, raising concerns that the virus may have already begun spreading beyond its initial origin zone. Additional suspected cases have also been detected in North Kivu, the DRC’s most populous province, which shares a border with Ituri, further widening the scope of the potential outbreak.

    First identified in late 2007, Ebola is a highly contagious pathogen that spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids, including blood, vomit, and semen. While infections are rare, the disease causes severe, often fatal illness with mortality rates that can exceed 50% depending on the variant and access to care.

    For WHO, a PHEIC declaration is the highest level of global public health alert, designed to catalyze urgent action from donor nations and international aid agencies. The designation signals that the outbreak poses a serious global threat, carries a significant risk of cross-border spread, and demands a coordinated, unified international response to contain transmission. However, past global responses to similar emergency declarations have delivered inconsistent results. When WHO labeled the 2024 mpox outbreak across Central Africa a global emergency, public health experts widely criticized the response for failing to rapidly deliver critical supplies including diagnostic tests, antiviral treatments, and vaccines to affected communities.

    What makes the current outbreak particularly challenging is the strain of virus involved: the Bundibugyo variant, a rare subtype of Ebola for which no specifically approved vaccines or therapeutics currently exist. While the DRC and Uganda have faced more than 20 separate Ebola outbreaks over the past decades, this is only the third recorded emergence of the Bundibugyo variant. To date, the vast majority of cases are concentrated in the DRC, with just two confirmed infections reported across the border in Uganda, per WHO data.

    The first known Bundibugyo outbreak occurred in Uganda’s Bundibugyo District between 2007 and 2008, infecting 149 people and killing 37. The second detection was recorded in 2012 in the DRC’s Isiro region, where the outbreak caused 57 confirmed infections and 29 deaths.

    Dr. Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), noted Saturday that a large share of active infections are still circulating in community settings, particularly in Mongwalu, the town where the first cases were initially documented. This widespread community transmission has dramatically complicated containment efforts and contact tracing work, which are critical to stopping the virus from spreading further.

    Compounding these challenges are persistent security and demographic pressures in the affected region. Decades of violent conflict with IS-backed militant groups in eastern DRC have left health infrastructure fragmented and unstable, while constant cross-border population movement driven by artisanal mining both within the DRC and across the border into Uganda makes it difficult to track and isolate infected individuals.

    Officials first confirmed the emergence of the outbreak in Ituri Province, which borders both Uganda and South Sudan, on Friday. By Saturday, the Africa CDC had reported 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths across the DRC.

    Speaking on the outbreak, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged that major uncertainties remain about the true scale of transmission. “There are significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread associated with this event at the present time,” he said. “In addition, there is limited understanding of the epidemiological links with known or suspected cases.”

  • WHO Declares Ebola “International Emergency” After Outbreak Kills 80

    WHO Declares Ebola “International Emergency” After Outbreak Kills 80

    In a landmark announcement that underscores growing global alarm over a rapidly expanding viral threat, the World Health Organization has officially designated the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Central Africa as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The declaration comes after the pathogen crossed an international border within 24 hours, moving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to neighboring Uganda, triggering urgent public health interventions across the region.

    As of May 16, 2026, health authorities have documented 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected fatalities across three separate health zones in the DRC’s northeastern Ituri Province. Only eight of these cases have so far received laboratory confirmation, pointing to gaps in surveillance and testing capacity in the conflict-affected region. The cross-border spread of the virus was confirmed when Uganda reported two positive cases linked to travel from the DRC, one of which ended in death.

    Complicating response efforts, the outbreak is driven by the Bundibugyo strain—a rare, lesser-understood variant of Ebola for which no widely approved vaccines or targeted therapeutic treatments currently exist. This gap in medical countermeasures has put frontline healthcare workers at extreme risk, with at least four medical personnel already counted among the outbreak’s fatalities.

    WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the PHEIC declaration during an emergency briefing, but clarified that the outbreak does not yet meet the formal criteria to be classified as a pandemic emergency. Under the PHEIC designation, the global public health body is calling for coordinated international action to contain the spread, while stopping short of recommending broad travel restrictions that go beyond the immediate affected areas. The organization has urged all countries outside the outbreak zone to strengthen their disease surveillance systems and pre-position rapid response teams to detect and contain any imported cases before they can spread locally.

    Public health experts warn that the combination of the rare strain, weak health infrastructure in the affected region, and ongoing population movement creates significant risk for further expansion, making rapid international support critical to turning the tide of the outbreak.

  • Sandals Foundation speeds hospital recovery with modular units

    Sandals Foundation speeds hospital recovery with modular units

    Months after Category 5 Hurricane Melissa devastated large swathes of north-western and south-western Jamaica in October 2025, a transformative community-funded donation is putting full outpatient service resumption at two major regional hospitals within reach. The Sandals Foundation, in partnership with multiple cross-border organizations, has delivered four custom modular units to both Falmouth Public General Hospital in Trelawny and Noel Holmes Hospital in Hanover, jumpstarting critical health infrastructure recovery efforts across the storm-battered island.

    The entire $21 million restoration initiative is funded entirely by proceeds from the Harmonies of Hope Hurricane Melissa Aid Concert, held in Toronto, Canada in December 2025 — just one month after the storm swept across Jamaica. The sold-out event, organized by The It Factor Ltd with backing from the Jamaica Tourist Board, brought together the Jamaican diaspora and Canadian supporters to raise funds for post-storm recovery projects led by local Jamaican non-profits.

    When Hurricane Melissa made landfall, it left a trail of destruction that crippled core health infrastructure across western Jamaica. Multiple critical care facilities suffered severe structural damage, forcing hospitals to suspend outpatient services and grapple with crippling space shortages for patient care. Carlington McLennon, Chief Executive Officer of Falmouth Public General Hospital, explained that the new modular units will reshape care delivery at the facility. Three of the four units will be dedicated to outpatient care, while the fourth will serve as a secure storage space for medical records. This new dedicated space for outpatient services will free up existing hospital capacity to focus exclusively on life-threatening critical emergencies, McLennon noted.

    Outpatient care is a cornerstone of accessible primary and secondary health services, allowing patients to receive routine check-ups, diagnoses, treatment, and same-day care without requiring overnight admission. The separation of outpatient services into the new modular units is also projected to cut wait times and speed up care turnaround for thousands of local residents who rely on the two public hospitals.

    Heidi Clarke, Executive Director of the Sandals Foundation, framed the donation as a defining milestone in Jamaica’s long-term post-hurricane recovery journey. “Since the October 28 storm, Jamaican families and frontline medical workers have shown extraordinary resilience,” Clarke said in an official statement. “Restoring full, functional health services is non-negotiable to rebuilding lives and shattered communities. We are proud to partner with Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness as they lead recovery efforts, supporting medical professionals to deliver safe care and give families accessible, comfortable spaces to access the treatment they need to thrive.”

    The initiative represents a successful cross-organizational partnership between the Sandals Foundation and Food For the Poor Canada, a collaboration that Geraldine Isaac, Executive Director of Food For the Poor Canada, said aligns perfectly with both groups’ core missions. “After a devastating hurricane, families don’t just need help rebuilding their roofs — they need support to protect their health, care for their loved ones, and hold onto hope,” Isaac noted. “We have been deeply moved by the outpouring of support from the Jamaican diaspora and Canadians across the country, and we are honored to work with the Sandals Foundation to restore access to life-saving health services at the exact moment communities need it most.”

    Jamaica’s Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. Christopher Tufton, welcomed the donation, emphasizing that the government’s national health care model prioritizes productive public-private partnerships to expand access to care. “We are deeply grateful for the ongoing partnership and support of the Sandals Foundation,” Dr. Tufton said. “As we continue rebuilding and upgrading health service delivery for parishes recovering from Hurricane Melissa, this generous donation strengthens our efforts and moves us closer to our goal of delivering the best possible health outcomes for all Jamaicans.”

    Natasha Borota, President of The It Factor Ltd, which organized the benefit concert, reflected on the event’s success: “Working with the Jamaica Tourist Board, we pulled together a thoughtfully curated concert that brought sponsors, partners, and donors together in hope, love, and solidarity for Jamaica.”

    This hospital infrastructure project is just one of multiple recovery initiatives the Sandals Foundation has rolled out using funds raised through the Harmonies of Hope concert. Earlier this year, the foundation partnered with the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) to supply building materials for roofing repairs, structural fixes, and home reconstruction under TEF’s Tourism Housing Assistance & Recovery Programme. In the coming weeks, the foundation will also deliver critical infrastructure support to the University of the West Indies’ Western Jamaica campus in St. James, continuing its commitment to comprehensive recovery across the region.

  • Adventists roll out free health services across St Elizabeth

    Adventists roll out free health services across St Elizabeth

    Residents across five communities in Jamaica’s St Elizabeth parish are set to access a wide range of no-cost essential health services starting May 18, through a multi-organizational medical mission health fair running through May 22. The outreach initiative is a collaborative effort between U.S.-based healthcare provider AdventHealth, Jamaica’s Andrews Memorial Hospital Limited, the Jamaica Union Conference, and the West Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, developed as part of ongoing disaster recovery support for communities impacted by Hurricane Melissa.

    Hurricane Melissa, a powerful Category 5 storm, made landfall on Jamaica in October 2024, leaving widespread devastation that upended the lives of thousands of residents across western parts of the island. For Donmayne Gyles, president and chief executive officer of Andrews Memorial Hospital, this upcoming health fair is far more than a one-off charity event—it is the fulfillment of a public promise made in the immediate aftermath of the storm to stand alongside affected communities through their long recovery journey. This marks the fifth targeted outreach effort the hospital and church partnership has delivered to impacted western parishes since the hurricane hit.

    “When Hurricane Melissa destroyed homes, disrupted livelihoods and upended entire communities, we committed as a hospital and faith network that we would not leave affected residents to rebuild alone,” Gyles explained in a statement ahead of the event. “This Medical Mission Health Fair is how we turn that commitment into tangible support for the people of St Elizabeth. We are deeply grateful that AdventHealth, our U.S. partner, shared our vision of extending healing and hope to this region, and they have joined our local clinicians to deliver compassionate, free care to residents in five hard-hit communities.”

    Attendees will have access to a comprehensive suite of services that address both the physical and emotional toll of the 2024 hurricane. Beyond core medical offerings including general practitioner consultations, eye screenings, dental checks and free prescription medications, the mission also integrates dedicated pastoral support and professional psychosocial care to help residents process the lingering trauma and stress of the disaster. This holistic approach was designed to respond to the overlapping social, emotional and financial strains that continue to impact local families months after the storm.

    The mobile health fair will rotate through a new community location each day, with consistent operating hours across all five stops. Registration opens at 8:00 a.m. each day, with clinical and support services running from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The outreach kicked off on Monday at the Junction Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church, with the next stop scheduled for Tuesday at New Market SDA Church. On Wednesday, the care team will set up at InTown SuperCentre on School Street in Black River, before moving to White Hill SDA Church on Thursday. The mission will wrap up its five-day run on Friday at Santa Cruz SDA Church.

    The initiative has garnered broad support from a range of local and regional corporate sponsors, including Comprehensive Eyecare, Three Angels Pharmacy Limited, LASCO, Facey Commodity Company Limited, Denk Pharma, Apotex, Cari-Med Group Limited, and Massy Distribution. Organizers are actively encouraging all St Elizabeth residents who need care, particularly those still recovering from hurricane-related disruptions to their access to healthcare, to note the location closest to their home and take advantage of the free services being offered.

  • American confirmed with Ebola in DR Congo — US agency

    American confirmed with Ebola in DR Congo — US agency

    On Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that an American citizen working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has tested positive for Ebola, marking the first confirmed infection among U.S. personnel during the region’s current viral surge.

    According to Satish Pillai, the CDC’s incident manager for the Ebola response, the infected individual developed symptomatic infection over the weekend and returned a positive diagnosis in late-stage testing Sunday. Evacuation plans are already in motion to transfer the patient to a specialized medical facility in Germany for advanced care. Alongside the evacuation of the confirmed case, U.S. authorities are also arranging to move six other people out of the DRC for mandatory close health monitoring, Pillai added.

    Currently, around 25 U.S. personnel are based at the CDC’s field office in the DRC, and the agency is moving to deploy an additional senior technical coordinator to reinforce outbreak response operations per an official request. In a formal public statement, the CDC noted that as of Monday, it assesses the immediate risk of Ebola spread to the general U.S. public remains low. However, agency representatives emphasized that public health guidelines and risk assessments will be updated continuously as new data on the outbreak emerges, with precautionary measures adjusted if needed.

    The current Ebola outbreak in the DRC is driven by a viral strain for which no licensed vaccine or targeted therapeutic treatment exists. The highly contagious hemorrhagic fever has already claimed dozens of lives in the region: per the latest data released Sunday by Congolese Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba, 91 deaths are already linked to the current surge in infections, and roughly 350 suspected cases have been documented across affected areas. Demographic breakdowns of the outbreak show most cases occur among adults aged 20 to 39, and more than 60% of confirmed and suspected cases are women.

    The outbreak response unfolds against a shifting backdrop of U.S. global health policy: earlier this year, the administration of former President Donald Trump completed the formal withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO), a key global coordinator for pandemic and outbreak response. In recent days, senior U.S. officials have declined to address questions about how deep cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — an agency that played a central role in containing previous Ebola outbreaks in Central Africa — have weakened current monitoring and containment efforts for the 2024 surge.

    Despite these policy shifts, CDC officials have reiterated that the agency remains committed to collaborative response efforts, working closely with international public health partners and local health authorities in the DRC. The new public health measures outlined Monday include the continued deployment of additional CDC personnel to support outbreak containment work in high-risk regions, as well as targeted support for contact tracing operations and on-the-ground laboratory testing to confirm suspected cases quickly.

  • WHO: Ebola-uitbraak in Congo en Oeganda internationale noodsituatie

    WHO: Ebola-uitbraak in Congo en Oeganda internationale noodsituatie

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a declaration classifying the ongoing Ebola outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain spreading across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the highest level of global public health alert.

    As of the latest official updates, the outbreak has been linked to 80 suspected deaths and 9 laboratory-confirmed infections, with the vast majority of cases concentrated in eastern DRC’s Ituri Province. Health authorities have recorded 246 suspected cases across multiple affected health zones in Ituri, including Bunia, Rwampara and Mongbwalu. Confirmed infections have also been detected far from the initial outbreak zone: one case was reported in Kinshasa, the DRC’s national capital, in a traveler returning from Ituri, and another confirmed infection was documented in Goma, per a statement from M23 rebel groups that control parts of North Kivu province. Across the border in Uganda, two confirmed cases have been registered in the capital Kampala, both involving travelers who arrived from the DRC, and one of those cases has already resulted in a death.

    While WHO officials stress that the current outbreak does not meet the criteria to be classified as a pandemic, the global health body has issued a stark warning that neighboring countries sharing a border with the DRC face a high risk of cross-border spread. In response to this risk, WHO has urged at-risk nations to immediately activate national emergency response plans, step up border health screening protocols, and implement systematic Ebola testing at major domestic transit routes.

    This outbreak is considered exceptional for a key reason: unlike the far more common Ebola Zaire strain, for which fully approved vaccines and targeted treatments are widely available, no licensed therapeutics or vaccines currently exist to combat the Bundibugyo strain. Like other Ebola variants, the Bundibugyo virus causes severe acute illness, with common symptoms including high fever, muscle pain, vomiting and severe diarrhea. It spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated materials from infected individuals.

    To slow transmission, WHO has recommended that confirmed patients and their close contacts avoid all international travel except for urgent medical evacuation, and has mandated immediate isolation and daily active monitoring for all exposed and infected people. At the same time, the organization has strongly advised against full border closures or widespread trade restrictions, warning that such measures would push cross-border movement underground to unregulated unofficial crossing points, increasing the risk of unmonitored spread rather than containing it.

    The DRC holds a long-standing connection to Ebola: the virus was first identified in the country’s central rainforest region in 1976, and the nation has now experienced 17 separate Ebola outbreaks since that initial discovery, most of which have been caused by the Zaire strain. The DRC’s dense tropical rainforest provides a natural reservoir for the virus, which circulates in wild animal populations before spilling over to human communities.

    In response to the escalating outbreak, Jean Kaseya, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, has requested updated technical response guidelines and is currently evaluating whether to classify the event as a continental-level public health emergency, signaling growing African regional concern over the outbreak’s trajectory.

  • WHO declares Ebola outbreak in DR Congo a global health emergency

    WHO declares Ebola outbreak in DR Congo a global health emergency

    In a high-stakes announcement, the World Health Organization (WHO) has formally designated the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the global health body’s highest level of alert. While the current outbreak, centered in Ituri province, does not meet the strict criteria to be classified as a pandemic, the WHO has issued urgent warnings that undetected transmission could allow the virus to grow far beyond the currently confirmed and suspected case counts, with major risks of local and regional expansion.

    The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a pathogen for which no specifically approved vaccines or antiviral treatments currently exist. As of the latest update, health authorities have logged eight laboratory-confirmed cases, with 246 suspected cases and 80 reported deaths across three high-risk health zones: Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri, and the gold-mining hubs of Mongwalu and Rwampara. One confirmed case has already reached the DRC’s national capital, Kinshasa, linked to a patient who had traveled from the outbreak zone. The virus has also crossed international borders, with two confirmed cases recorded in neighboring Uganda; one of those cases, a 59-year-old Congolese man, died last week, and his remains have been repatriated to the DRC. Separately, AFP has confirmed that an additional Ebola case has been detected in Goma, a city in eastern DRC currently held by M23 rebel forces, complicating response efforts.

    Multiple overlapping factors have amplified the risk of widespread transmission, the WHO explained. Decades of ongoing conflict in eastern DRC have created a severe humanitarian crisis, paired with high rates of population movement, an outbreak epicenter located in an urban area, and a large network of unregulated informal health facilities. These conditions make monitoring and controlling the virus particularly challenging. Neighboring countries are classified as high-risk due to constant cross-border trade and travel flows.

    To curb the outbreak, the WHO has advised both the DRC and Uganda to immediately activate emergency operations centers to coordinate surveillance, contact tracing, and infection prevention protocols. The agency recommends confirmed cases be placed in immediate isolation, with release only after two negative virus-specific tests collected at least 48 hours apart. Countries bordering affected regions have been instructed to boost routine surveillance and mandatory health reporting. Critically, the WHO has urged nations outside the affected zone to refrain from closing borders or imposing unnecessary travel and trade restrictions, noting that such actions are typically driven by fear rather than scientific evidence.

    WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that major uncertainties remain around the true scale of the outbreak, including the actual number of infected people and how far the virus has already spread geographically. First identified in 1976 in what is now the DRC, Ebola is believed to originate from bat populations, and this current event marks the 17th outbreak the country has faced since the virus was first discovered. The virus spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids or broken skin, triggering symptoms that progress from early fever, muscle pain, fatigue, headache, and sore throat to vomiting, diarrhea, rash, and internal or external bleeding, often leading to organ failure and death. The WHO records an average fatality rate of roughly 50% for Ebola, and no universally proven cure exists for the disease.

    The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has previously echoed these concerns, noting that the outbreak’s presence in densely populated urban areas of Rwampara and Bunia, paired with mobile mining workforces in Mongwalu, creates extreme conditions for rapid spread. Africa CDC Executive Director Dr. Jean Kaseya stressed that large-scale cross-border population movement between affected areas and neighboring countries makes coordinated regional response non-negotiable.

    Since Ebola was first discovered 50 years ago, roughly 15,000 people across African nations have died from the disease. The DRC’s deadliest Ebola outbreak on record occurred between 2018 and 2020, when nearly 2,300 people lost their lives. Just last year, an outbreak in a remote region of the country killed 45 people, underscoring the persistent threat of viral flare-ups in the region.

  • BOG start bespuitingscampagne tegen chikungunya in Blauwgrond

    BOG start bespuitingscampagne tegen chikungunya in Blauwgrond

    Public health authorities in Suriname have kicked off an aggressive targeted mosquito spraying campaign to combat the spread of chikungunya and address growing public nuisance from mosquito populations, with official operations launching Friday in the Blauwgrond district. The initiative represents a core component of a nationwide public health strategy designed to halt further transmission of the mosquito-borne viral infection.

    Starting at 5:00 p.m. on the opening day, the specially adapted mosquito control vehicle, known locally as the denguewagen, traversed multiple streets and residential neighborhoods across Blauwgrond to carry out targeted insecticide applications. This proactive preventative measure is a joint effort by the country’s Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Labor and the Bureau for Public Health (Bureau voor Openbare Gezondheidszorg, BOG), with two overarching goals: cutting down local mosquito populations and safeguarding community-wide public health.

    According to statements from the Ministry of Public Health, all spraying operations are being conducted exclusively by BOG teams that have undergone specialized training for vector control work. At the same time, public health officials have emphasized that successful chikungunya control cannot be achieved through government spraying alone. Active participation and cooperation from local residents are critical to long-term success in reducing mosquito breeding grounds.

    To this end, authorities have issued an urgent call for Blauwgrond residents to eliminate all sources of standing water around their homes and properties. Common spaces that act as ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes include water collected in buckets, discarded bottles, plant pots, old tires, and clogged rain gutters, all of which can be easily removed or drained to stop new mosquito eggs from hatching.

    In addition to eliminating standing water, BOG has outlined a series of key precautionary measures for residents to follow while spraying is taking place in their neighborhood. These guidelines advise residents to keep windows and exterior doors open to allow insecticide to reach outdoor-adjacent mosquito resting spaces; cover all food and drinking water containers securely to avoid contamination; relocate pets and caged birds to protected areas away from sprayed zones; keep infants and individuals with pre-existing respiratory conditions in closed, unsprayed spaces during treatment hours; and store all loose clothing items indoors to prevent exposure to spray residue.

    Spraying operations will continue across different zones of Blauwgrond from Monday, May 18 through Friday, May 22, with all daily treatments scheduled to run between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. The daily route breaks down as follows: May 18 will cover the Morgenstondstraat corridor, Anton Dragtenweg, Powisistraat, Kleinestraat, Verlengde Gompertstraat, Surivillage 1, 2 and 4, and all connecting inner roads; May 19 will include Powisistraat, Anton Dragtenweg, Bonistraat, Basitostraat, Abonestraat, Kristalstraat, and all linked inner streets; May 20 will treat the Bonistraat to Anton Dragtenweg corridor, Tweekinderweg/Mr. R.W. Thurkowstraat, Basitostraat, and connecting inner roads; May 21 will focus on Tweekinderweg, Anton Dragtenweg, Jan Steenstraat, Mr. R.W. Thurkowstraat, and adjacent inner roads; and May 22 will cover Copernicusstraat, Anton Dragtenweg, Plutostraat, and Mr. R.W. Thurkowstraat, including all connecting inner roads.

    BOG has also added a key caveat to the schedule: no spraying operations will be conducted during periods of heavy rainfall, as precipitation renders insecticide treatments ineffective against mosquito populations.

  • Selected Community Clinics Continue Extended Operating Hours, Ministry Reminds Public

    Selected Community Clinics Continue Extended Operating Hours, Ministry Reminds Public

    Residents of Antigua and Barbuda now have greater flexibility to access routine and urgent medical care after standard work hours, as the country’s Ministry of Health has confirmed that extended operating hours are already in place at two primary care facilities: the Grays Farm Health Centre and the Clare Hall Health Centre. This policy adjustment is part of a broader government push to upgrade public healthcare access and reduce systemic strain on emergency departments across the nation.

    Under the new permanent extended schedule, both health centers open their doors to patients at 8 a.m. daily and remain operational until 9 p.m., adding three extra hours of service beyond the traditional 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. primary care timetable. Ministry officials emphasized that this expansion addresses a long-standing gap for working residents who struggle to attend clinic appointments during standard business hours, eliminating the need for many to take unpaid time off work to access necessary care.

    A full range of general and urgent care services are available during the extended operating window. These include routine general medical consultations, acute wound management, care for lacerations, and treatment for common urgent conditions such as sudden asthma flare-ups, dehydration, viral and bacterial gastroenteritis. The facilities also provide urgent care for unmanaged chronic conditions, including uncontrolled hypertension and blood sugar spikes related to diabetes, helping patients avoid unnecessary trips to hospital emergency rooms.

    The rollout of extended hours is not stopping at these two locations. The Ministry of Health has announced that similar extended operating schedules are planned for two additional facilities — the Brownes Avenue Health Center and the Villa Polyclinic — with a launch date set for a future phase of the healthcare improvement initiative.

    In a statement, ministry leaders reaffirmed the government’s ongoing commitment to expanding equitable access to high-quality healthcare services for all communities across Antigua and Barbuda, framing extended primary care hours as a critical step toward strengthening the country’s overall public health system.