Zika virus in Cuba

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Cuba
Cuba

Cuba (Republic of Cuba) is a country comprising the islands of Cuba, Isla de la Juventud and several archipelagos in the Caribbean Sea. The capital and largest city Havana is 365 km (227 mi) from Miami, Florida. Geographically, Cuba is considered part of North America. Culturally, it is considered part of Latin America.

There are no known cases of Zika virus in Cuba yet. However Zika virus cases in its neighbors including Haiti, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and other Caribbean islands were reported.

Cuba is known for being proactive when it comes to fighting tropical diseases. The Cuban health ministry is aggressive in their combat against the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Even before the current Zika virus outbreak, the Cuban health ministry made campaigns to fumigate and clean up the places where mosquitoes breed and to monitor fevers. In 2015, Cuba had 1641 cases of dengue and no deaths.

Soldiers assigned to keep Zika out of Cuba

On 22 February 2016, Cuban President Raul Castro said he is assigning 9,000 soldiers to help keep Zika virus out of Cuba. He said that the inadequate technical quality of efforts against mosquito, insufficient work to clean up areas where the mosquito propagates and poor weather conditions has hampered prevent the arrival of the Zika virus. 9,000 military personnel and 200 national police officials will help spray neighborhoods for mosquitoes. They will also eliminate breeding spots for mosquitoes. The President said Cuba has yet to report a case of Zika.