The imminent threat of a Zika outbreak in the Dominican Republic has led the Ministry of Public Health to implement a program that has already eliminated nearly 400,000 breeding areas for mosquitoes and cleared thousands of tons of garbage during a nationwide operation that started in late January.
The Collective Health Department, together with other ministry departments led the coordination of the initiative. Some 31,000 Ministry health promoters as well as volunteers from 980 public and community organizations visited nearly 230,000 homes eliminating potential mosquito breeding grounds and distributing nearly 300,000 educational pamphlets throughout the whole country. A larva-killing product was applied to water tanks. The ministry also distributed mosquito nets during the refuse cleanup.
This major national campaign is designed to eliminate the breeding grounds for the Aedes Aegypti mosquito that transmits the zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses.
Special attention is being given to the Zika virus since it is suspected of causing microcephaly, a severe birth defect in which the brain fails to develop properly and the head is much smaller than normal. An alarming number of cases have already been registered in Brazil.
