Holguin Besieged by Dengue Fever Mosquito

Holguin Besieged by Dengue Fever Mosquito / 14ymedio, Fernando Donate Ochoa
Posted on June 16, 2015

14ymedio, Fernando Donate Ochoa, Holguin, 15 June 2015 — An undesirable
presence has been constant these days in the province of Holguin. A
severe drought has been followed by the longed-for rains and with the
torrential downpours outbreaks of the mosquito Aedes aegypti
increase. According to local press, some 30,000 Holguinn residents are
exposed to Dengue Fever, transmitted by this insect.

In this battle the local government has invested over 1.5 billion pesos,
without obtaining the expected results, as shown by the data provided by
the Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology. Officials say that the
vector has crossed the boundaries of 26 de Julio, Pueblo Nuevo, Hilda
Torres and Harlem neighborhoods, and arrived in Libertad, Alcides Pino,
Palomo, Nuevo Llano and Centro Ciudad Norte, where a wide perimeter
takes in the area between Frexes, Carretera to Gibara Streets, Capitan
Urbino Avenue and 31st of Vista Alegre, with the appearance of Dengue
Fever in all of them.

It is predicted that in June and July, months that favor the undesirable
vector because of the climate and the rain, transmission could trigger
an epidemic of patients appearing with Hemorrhagic Dengue Fever. The
complicated situation has forced the health authorities to intensify the
work of control, but there continues to be a deficit of 300 operators to
support fumigation inside homes and other places.

Given the seriousness of the situation, the Municipal Health leadership
has asked different state institutions for a workforce, but the answer
has not been as expected.

Yendri Bermúdez Estupiñán, a former operative of the anti-vector
campaign, told 14ymedio that the work is every day, working more than 8
hours, most of the time carrying fumigation equipment weighing 65
pounds, and exposed to poisons through working with the cypermethrin, a
chemical used to control mosquitoes.

He also complains that the lunch, guaranteed daily, is small and of low
quality. The salary of 625 Cuban pesos a month (about $25 US), isn't
enough to maintain a stable workforce in the sector.

As a last resort, the municipal authorities have asked for help from the
Revolutionary Armed Forces, which mobilized a weekly rotation of more
than one hundred soldiers, according to what Julio Cesar Velazquez
Garcia, head of the Provincial Health Vector Control Department, told
local TV.

Source: Holguin Besieged by Dengue Fever Mosquito / 14ymedio, Fernando
Donate Ochoa | Translating Cuba -
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