According to Dominican Medical Association (CMD) president Dr. Pedro Sing, the chikungunya virus has now affected more than a million people in the Dominican Republic.
Dr. Sing said that the Ministry of Public Health should do more to eliminate the breeding grounds of the mosquitoes responsible for transmitting both chikungunya and dengue fever, Aedes Aegypti and Aedes Albopictus.
He went on to say that although official figures from Public Health say around 260,000 people have been affected by the virus, his records show that more than a million have been to hospitals.
In provinces like Monsenor Nouel (Bonao), La Vega, Santiago, Espaillat (Moca), Puerto Plata, Duarte (San Francisco de Macoris), Valverde (Mao), Montecristi and Dajabon, the epidemic is currently at very high levels.
However in the National District, Santo Domingo, San Cristobal and San Pedro de Macoris the numbers attending hospitals and clinics with the virus have declined by 50%.
The latest bulletin from the General Epidemiology Council (Digepi) from Public Health cites 251,880 cases in 19 provinces, with the Cibao region currently at the top of the list. Doctor Sing said that he thinks that it will go on to affect more than five million people in the country.
Ministry of Public Health communications director Eduardo Rosario said that they were meeting with the drivers of the trucks that delivered water to neighborhoods in the National District and Santo Domingo province to instruct them how to chlorinate the cisterns and tanks.
Health Minister Dr. Freddy Hidalgo Nunez has said that they will continue running campaigns to destroy mosquito breeding grounds and to fumigate around the country.