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Last Updated: Feb 18th, 2008 - 14:39:01 |
Ministry of Health officials said last night that the local spread of malaria has come to an end.
The announcement comes almost two months after an outbreak in Exuma.
"The Ministry of Health and National Insurance is happy to advise the public that as of June 13, 2006, no new cases of malaria have been identified in Great Exuma," a Ministry of Health press release read. "The passage of three incubation periods with no new cases means that we can conclude positively that local transmission has ceased."
The statement added that since the June outbreak the Health Department has conducted a series of screenings.
"On June 21, in a communication to members of the House of Assembly, the Minister of Health and National Insurance (Dr Bernard Nottage) indicated that Phase Two of the exercise, i.e. contact tracing, had been completed," according to the statement.
"Following this, Phase Three, a blood screening study was carried out and this has now been completed. As a result of this survey an at-risk community of non-Nationals from a malaria endemic country was identified and in an abundance of caution a mass treatment programme of 203 persons was successfully carried out."
The Health Ministry also maintained that the Department of Public Health would continue to monitor the situation closely with an active surveillance programme, while the Department of Environmental Health will continue "intense" vector control and entomological management.
In June, health officials reported that there were 16 cases of malaria found in Exuma. Authorities also noted that the disease is not endemic to The Bahamas and is considered an 'imported' disease, transmitted by the bite of a female anopheles mosquito.
Malaria is endemic to a number of countries, including Guyana, Suriname, Belize, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
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