The Regional Health Authority has confirmed that as part of the daily monitoring activities carried out by the Regional Directorate of Health, the presence of the dengue virus in the Aedes Aegypti mosquito was identified in a trap located in Funchal.
In a note sent by the Regional Directorate of Health, they explain that the network of entomological surveillance traps has been reinforced, according to the entomological response plan, defined in conjunction with the national heads of the Vector Surveillance Network.
The DRS note highlights, however, that to date, there are no suspected or confirmed cases of dengue in humans in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. “In this context, we reinforce the importance of everyone’s action in order to eliminate mosquito breeding sites (small collections/water deposits) and prevent being bitten (which is easier said than done!).”
However, while talking to journalists, the President of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque said that identification of the dengue virus in mosquitoes in a monitoring trap in Funchal is no cause for alarm, as actions to combat the spread of the disease will continue, especially as climate change has allowed the disease to spread.
Symptoms of Dengue Fever include: fever, headache, muscle, and joint pain, pain around or behind the eyes, vomiting, red spots on the skin, and bleeding.
Madeira recorded an outbreak of the disease between 2012 and 2013, with 1,080 confirmed cases of dengue infection, most in the municipality of Funchal. This was the first time an EU country had recorded dengue fever since 1920.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
