St Lucia confirms first Zika cases
Tuesday, 08 Apr, 2016
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St Lucia has confirmed its first two cases of the Zika virus, both which were contracted locally.
The Caribbean Public Health Agency said a man and a woman were both infected in St lucia as neither has a history of travel to a Zika affected country.
"We have increased our surveillance within our health system to ensure the timely diagnosis. There are so far two cases of the Zika virus disease on the island," said Sharon Belmar George, senior medical officer at the ministry of health.
The mosquito-borne Zika outbreak has affected many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, with Brazil hit the hardest hit so far, with more than 900 cases of microcephaly.
Microcephaly is thought to be linked to Zika infections and can cause birth effects when contracted during pregnancy.
Speaking to the St Lucia Times, Tourism Minister Lorne Throphilus said it is difficult to predict what the impact will be on the tourism industry but is confident authorities will contain any spread of the virus.
"I think that what we need to do once our visitors to our shores are satisfied that our health services are doing all that is possible to contain it, is continue to market our destination and hope that the strength of our destination overrides the concern associated with the virus," he said.
"We are holding true to the fact that our health authorities are in a position to deal with it and deal with it quite effectively."
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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