Francis Morey
The dengue virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito which reproduces in areas where stagnant water is not properly drained. Despite an awareness campaign which remains ongoing, the ministry is appealing to the public to organize cleanup efforts in order to do away with unwanted receptacles to mitigate the spread of resultant dengue fever.
Dr. Francis Morey, Epidemiology Unit
“No deaths up to now and this is where the Ministry of Health is concerned and it urges you as the media to be able to go back to your corresponding offices and houses and insist and help us in informing the community about the importance dengue control or vector-borne disease control. As Mr. Bautista had mentioned before, the [Director of Health Services] in many of his interviews has expressed that vector-controlled diseases in a country is only a percentage of what the ministry can do. The appearance of hemorrhagic disease, especially dengue, is of great concern for us at the Ministry of Health and even more by members affected by death in their family. So there might be more cases as we continue in the next few months coming but prevention is one of the best things that we can do as a community and as members of the community. So the message that we are relaying to you all and asking for your support is to advise the public to clean up their yards, advise the community to come together and do cleanup campaigns, take this message farther to the leaders of the community. The ministers in the corresponding districts, the town councils, chairmen in the villages and town councils to organize cleanup campaigns. If you notice some of the figures that Mr. Bautista has presented, most of these are in the large towns, Punta Gorda Town, San Ignacio Town, Corozal Town, Belize City and he has indicated hotspots.”
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