Costa Rica: Zika virus, dengue fever, chikungunya outbreaks /update 3

Event

According to figures released by the Costa Rican government, in the first ten weeks of 2017, 117 confirmed cases of the Zika virus were reported in the country, along with 592 more suspected cases. Meanwhile, 804 cases of dengue fever and 101 cases of chikungunya were reported during the same period. A nationwide campaign to reduce populations of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, carriers of all three diseases, continues.

Context

While the Zika virus in itself is usually relatively benign, links between the Zika virus and the birth defect microcephaly (babies born with underdeveloped heads), as well as the potentially fatal neurological disorder Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), have been established. The virus is asymptomatic in approximately 80 percent of cases; when symptoms do occur they generally appear two to seven days following contraction of the disease, and include fever, headache (behind the eyes), conjunctivitis, rash, vomiting, and muscle and joint pain. The disease is also spreadable via sexual intercourse.

Symptoms of dengue fever and chikungunya are similar and include: fever, headache, joint and muscle ache, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, and rash.

Advice

Individuals present in Costa Rica - in particular pregnant women and their partners - are advised to take measures to protect themselves from mosquito bites (e.g. by wearing covering clothing, using insect repellent, and sleeping in a screened-in or air conditioned room) and to eliminate possible mosquito breeding grounds (small pockets of fresh water, such as rain water that has collected in cans, bottles, tires, flower pots, clogged gutters, etc.).