By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Leader Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday urged the government to see the seriousness of the Zika virus and adopt a more “aggressive” approach to thwarting an outbreak that has the potential to gravely impact the country’s healthcare system.

The Zika virus is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the species responsible for the proliferation of the Chikungunya virus and dengue fever around the region in recent years.

According to Dr Minnis, it is only a matter of time before the Zika virus breaches the borders of the Bahamas as it has done in other countries.

“You’ve seen what dengue has done to this country,” he said in the House of Assembly. “The virus is already in Haiti and the virus is in Jamaica, our borders are open – which means it is only a matter of time before the virus is introduced here.”

Health Minister Perry Gomez, in his address to the House of Assembly on the matter yesterday, said the Ministry of Health is working closely with its partners in the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPH) to give further guidance for continuous monitoring, case detection and reporting of the virus.

He noted that health officials are working to mitigate the risk of local transmission of the Zika virus through heightened case based surveillance at healthcare facilities.

On Tuesday the Department of Environmental Health Services announced plans to begin fogging for mosquitos in respective communities “sometime this week” in response to global concern over the virus.

However, Dr Minnis noted that while the government’s attempt to address the problem with an “intensified” fogging programme should be commended, it isn’t enough.

Dr Minnis, the former minister of health, said the government has to travel into the various communities across the country and disseminate critical information to those that can be most adversely affected by the virus.

He noted that the lack of such a campaign could have a negative impact on the government’s efforts.

Dr Minnis said: “Persons who have just become pregnant are more exposed to the abnormalities. The abnormality you see are babies being born with small heads, the heads are the size of baby coconuts which means the brain is the size of baby coconut – not functioning.”

“As a result of that, it has great impact on the healthcare system and great impact on the family’s financial structure. These must be treated very aggressively and I urge the government to have town meetings within the communities.”

“During the last dengue outbreak the mosquitos were more rampant in the inner city and the south. It was not rampant in the east and not rampant in the west and you must aggressively approach those areas, because the financial impact it will have on The Bahamas’ healthcare system and the family’s financial structure is unbelievable.”

“In fact, some countries are going as far as to ask the young women to delay their pregnancies until they are sure that they have complete control of the Aedes aegypti mosquito and no Zika virus within the communities.”

PAHO has received notice of the virus’ presence in over 20 countries in the Americas, including Brazil, Barbados, and Haiti to date. The virus has been reported in the United States, but only from travellers returning from countries where the virus is prevalent.

There have been no reports of the Zika virus in the Bahamas, however.

The virus is causing global concern because of its reported connection to microcephaly, a congenital condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads. The condition causes severe developmental issues and sometimes death.

There is no known vaccine or specific drug for the virus, according to the Pan American Health Organisation.