Zika cases reach 118

THE NUMBER of cases of Zika virus in Panama continues to climb and are now distributed across the country. The Ministry of Health (MoH) announced on Saturday March, 5, that the total had reached 118,

Seven new cases were confirmed since  Friday  in San Francisco, Las Cumbres, Bella Vista, El Tecal and Narganá (Guna Yala).

Health authorities have called the general population to keep the their homes and surrounding areas clean to  curb  the breeding of Aedes aegypti mosquito, responsible for zika, and other diseases such as dengue and chikungunya.

T he MoH  has reported that so far this year, four cases of chikungunya and 284 dengue cases were confirmed.

A national health alert was declared on  February16, an nd  the MoH will have an extraordinary credit of $10 million dollars to  increase staff dedicated to fight the virus.

The MoH can impose sanctions on those who violate public health recommendations, with measures ranging from community service to fines of $100,000,