The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

OFFICIALS are working aggressively to curb another dengue outbreak amid an early rainy season.

With just over two weeks until the hurricane season officially begins on June 1, forecaster Greg Thompson said increased rainfall was unusual.

He said the rainy season and the hurricane season correlates.

Department of Environmental Services Director Melanie McKenzie said precautionary work, including fogging began months ago.

Ms McKenzie said: "Since January, we've been doing prep work, including fogging, which we do everyday when it doesn't rain. We've also been educating people on how to make their yards and homes less of a breeding ground for the Aedes Aegypti - the mosquito which transmits dengue fever."

As mosquitoes thrive in densely populated areas, Ms McKenzie said her team has specifically targeted those places.

"We've gone to residences that have pools, schools, corporate and public places where breeding areas have been identified."

Ms McKenzie said from January to March a team has also checked all drainage systems and increased waste removal.

She urged home owners to constantly check their yards, disposing of trash and emptying containers that collect water.

Since last year's dengue outbreak, heightened public concern has surfaced with the heavy downpour of rain.

Almost two weeks ago, Ministry of Health officials confirmed that several incidents of the disease were reported in New Providence. They stressed, however, that the cases were sporadic.

Deputy Chief medical Officer Delon Brennen said the numbers this year are no different from the years before.

His comments came after a young man contracted the disease last week. The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he believes he got the disease while travelling to the Berry Islands and Andros.

However, Dr Brennen said there has never been any cases of dengue fever in any of those islands and the man most likely was bitten in New Providence.

"We have never gotten any reports from the Berry Islands or Andros. The few reports that came from the Family Islands were able to trace back to New Providence.

"We found that it was either people who lived in New Providence who just happened to show symptoms while on a Family Island or a resident who visited the capital and showed symptoms when they returned home but there was no local transmission," he said.

"The outbreak from last year is over. For the first four months of the year we haven't had more cases than usual. A case here or there, but nothing that was a surprise to us. There have not been any cases that would be cause for an alarm."

There were 205 confirmed cases of dengue fever in 2011 and 7,200 suspected cases.