JLP to examine proposal to mobilise machinery to fight Chikungunya

The opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has issued a preliminary response to the call for the two main political parties to mobilise their ground machinery in the fight against the spread of the Chikungunya virus.
    

JLP General Secretary, Dr Horace Chang, says the Ministry of Health will have to lead the response to the virus, as potential volunteers will have to be trained.
He also believes the Ministry has the capacity to carry out door-to-door checks through its public health network.

Chang says he will have to discuss the proposal with his colleagues before the Party gives a full response.
    

The idea of the JLP and the People's National Party, participating in an initiative to tackle the spread of the disease was presented by President of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association (JMDA), Dr. Alfred Dawes on Monday.    

Dawes said the Parties have at their disposal individuals who can reach every door in Jamaica.
And the PNP says it has already responded on the ground to the Chikungunya Virus.
Deputy General Secretary Raymond Pryce says the outbreak was discussed at Sunday's National Executive Council meeting.

Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson then urged party members to lead the charge to take preventative measures to combat the spread of the virus.

“We were all supposed to be looking to the situation in our constituencies and through local resources to respond as is necessary,” Pyrce said.

Pryce, who is also Member of Parliament for North East St Elizabeth, says he and other Parliamentarians have mobilised ground support and tours have been conducted in his constituency to identify mosquito-breeding sites.
He said a meeting will be held Thursday to look at the community response.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has outlined how it is coping with the outbreak, as several jurors have been absent due to the symptoms of the disease.
  

This triggered calls from judges for increased fogging at court buildings.
    

DPP Paula Llewellyn says since the start of the Michaelmas term a preventative approach was taken in dealing with Chik V.

“What we have sought to do is on occasion have certain areas of the office sprayed and in the morning, close the office and in the morning hopefully we are able to prevent having any mosquitoes around.”
She also disclosed that some members of staff have been affected by the flu like symptoms.

“In terms of my staff, I’m aware of three lawyers who have come down with it and we have had to do some rearranging of our roster  - it’s a question now of taking the necessary precautions”

And there is a Chikungunya link to the outbreak of a mysterious hemorrhagic fever in the Venezuelan state of  Aragua and the capital Caracas that has left ten people dead in the last three weeks.
 Nine people have so far succumbed to the disease in the northern state and a tenth person died in the capital. 
    

Autopsies have indicated that those who died were suffering from other complications, such as Chikungunya. 
 Venezuelan hemorrhagic fever, VHF, is endemic in the two states but transmission from person-to-person is uncommon. 
    

While samples have been sent to the National Institute of  Health, the results have not yet been released publicly and there is no suggestion from health officials that VHF is behind this particular outbreak.
    

One doctor, has declared it an emergency due to the lack of information about what the country is facing, the causes and appropriate treatment.