Global Outbreak Update: 339 dengue fever cases in Jamaica

Current virus type is the DENV3, affecting mostly the Kingston and Saint Andrew parishes.

• Status: 4 February 2019
• Monitoring Time frame: 339 suspected and confirmed cases reported between 1. January until 21 January 2019. These cases include 6 deaths. By comparison, 989  suspected and confirmed cases (including 13 deaths) were reported in 2018.
• Regions: Most 2019 cases reported in the Saint Catherine parish. Towards the end of 2018, cases were reported mainly in the Kingston and Saint Andrew parishes.
• Virus Information: DENV3 dengue virus type currently circulating.
• Response: the Jamaican Ministry of Health (MoH) has declared a dengue outbreak on 3. January 2019. The MoH is increasing vector control activities and coordinating responses with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the WHO. Emergency Operations Center activated on 3. January 2019. 
• Recommendation: PAHO and WHO requests coordinated responses within and outside the health sector to apply recommendations on outbreak preparedness, outbreak response, case management, laboratory logistics, and integrated vector management. Surveillance should continue at the local and national level. Integrated Vector Management (IVM) should focus on remove potential breeding sites, reduce vector populations and minimize individual exposures to the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. 
• More information on this update here.

About the esanum Global Outbreak Updates
This section gives our users short updates from the World Health Organization’s Disease Outbreak News (DONs). They provide a glimpse into the day-to-day workings and importance of the overlaps amongst international public health cooperation, epidemiology, and national health systems.
For more information, please visit the WHO’s Disease Outbreak News