(Jamaica Gleaner) Minister of Health, Dr Fenton Ferguson is admitting that there appears to be some discrepancy between the number of suspected and reported Chikungunya cases on the island.
The country now has 352 suspected and 31 confirmed cases of Chikungunya.
However, there have been wide scale absences at schools and business places with persons complaining of Chikungunya like symptoms.
The government’s handling of the virus has been widely criticised, with several sectors accusing the Health Ministry of under-reporting the virus’ prevalence.
However, according to Ferguson, the ministry is facing a difficulty as private medical doctors often do not report suspected cases.
He says it is critical that doctors pass this information on so the Health Ministry can have an accurate picture of the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, Ferguson is appealing to members of the public to continue seeking out and destroying mosquito breeding sites.
He says it is not enough to wait on the Ministry to carry out fogging in communities, as the exercise only kills adult mosquitoes.
Minister Ferguson was speaking at a JIS Think Tank session yesterday.
