Health Ministry officials ruled out that the young boy admitted to Cuidad Neily hospital is infected with the Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), a dengue-like illness.
Speaking on ADN 90.7 FM radio, Dr. Roberto Castro, head of the Unidad de Análisis Permanente de Situación de Salud, de la Dirección de Vigilancia de la Salud, del Ministerio de Salud, said the blood sample was negative.
The sample was analyzed by the Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios en Salud, in Panamá.
The child is the son of a Dominican man and Panamanian woman, who last month visited the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean island with one of the highest incidents of CHIKV.
The Ministry of Health is still keeping a close eye on a 60 year old man, currently at the Hospital San Juan de Dios in San José. The Santa Ana man was admitted Friday morning, suspected of being infected with CHIKV, also visited the Dominican Republic in the last couple of weeks. Health officials are waiting on test results.