Latest update April 28th, 2026 12:30 AM
Is Zika’s arrival inevitable?
Dear Editor,
No cases of the Zika virus have surfaced in Guyana yet, but our Government ie, the Ministry of Health, should take steps and measures as a national public health emergency of the threat of the virus, surfacing here.
We understand that to date the virus is reported to have spread across more than twenty countries in the Americas.
With the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is responsible for spreading Zika, many Guyanese are worrying of its arrival here which may be inevitable. A Zika outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern.
Be that as it may the Minister of Health, should be cognizant of this and make known to the public what measures are in place in case its ugly face grace our country Guyana. There must be fogging, spraying and dissemination of information to the public.
The Ministry of Health should be already providing logistical support on the ground in terms of vehicles and in terms of people to assist the vector control department and in putting boots on the ground to knock door-to-door, to assist in fogging and spraying, if it reaches here
The Guyanese public also has a part to play in both reducing preventing the population of mosquitoes by covering water barrels, drums or buckets with a tight fitted lid; keeping drains and guttering clean; emptying and scrubbing the sides of water vases; wearing clothing to cover their arms and legs; applying insect repellent to exposed skin; and sleeping under a mosquito net.
Rooplall Dudhnath
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