KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Sept. 17, 2014, CNS – Chikungunya, a mosquito borne disease transmitted by the bite of an infected aedes aegypti mosquito, continues to rise in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace told Caribbean News Service (CNS) that close to 800 cases have been reported here up to last week.
“It’s pretty tough at the moment. The last figure I had was 740 confirmed cases as of last week. It’s very bad here, especially in the grenadines and the northern tips of the island both on the Windward side and the Leeward side,” Eustace said.
“It’s pretty bad and I think it has had an impact too on the tourism sector in terms of visitors. It’s pretty heavy here. There are villages where every home is affected, every single home is affected.”
In April the Ministry of Health declared an outbreak of the virus after three cases were confirmed on the northern Grenadine island of Bequia.
CNS/ml/2014
