Barbados monitors 8 suspected cases of Zika virus

The Ministry of Health says it is monitoring eight suspected cases of the Zika virus.

At a press conference on Friday, Minister of Health John Boyce said samples will be sent to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad and Tobago for confirmatory testing and the results will be shared with the public as soon as the ministry receives word from the agency.

In the wake of this, Boyce has warned the public to be on alert and “use simple measures to prevent mosquito breeding around our homes, business places and communities.”

“The fact that the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits the Zika virus, is the same mosquito that spreads dengue fever and chikungunya, we are all very familiar with the prevention and control measures which we need to undertake… Inspect your surroundings to search out and remove mosquito-breeding places on your properties. The Ministry of Health recommends that this should be done once per week.”