QCOSTARICA – The number of patients with the Zika virus has reached 19 in the Pacific coastal community of Jaco, Puntarenas.
Health Minister Fernando Llorca said the increase in the number of cases in the area is no surprise, given the large “mobile” population in the area and the climatic conditions “favourable” for the hatchery of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits the Zika, Chikungunya and Dengue virus.
“We lost control in Jacó because of people travelling there, which apparently it may have been the link to the outbreak. We are now focusing all the fighting in Jacó (…) There is no surprise. We knew that with the rains the virus was going to appear somewhere,” said Llorca.
The total number of Zika cases in the country is now at 32.
Up to last week, the cases of Zika were concentrated in Guanacaste, specifically in the cantons of Nicoya and Carrillo where the first reports of the virus occurred and Alajuelita (San Jose), where four people were confirmed with the virus.
The Health Ministry is maintaining the emergency decree that covers 31 cantones across the country, including the canton of Garabito that includes Jaco.
Source: La Nacion