That revelation came in a press release from the ministry late Wednesday afternoon, which confirmed that of 158 persons tested, 16 people tested positive for malaria.
“Of the nine persons in hospital, more than half of them are expected to be discharged tomorrow. I will reiterate, as I said [Tuesday], that we expect to identify a few more cases as we continue investigations in households and among contacts for perhaps the next 10 days,” Minister of Health Dr. Bernard Nottage said.
As of Tuesday, 12 cases of the potentially deadly disease had been confirmed.
The ministryﾒs release also noted that there have been no discoveries of the Anopheles mosquito in Exuma, leading health experts to believe there will be no further local transmission of malaria. Malaria is transmitted through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito, which bites at night.
The ministry also noted that several people afflicted with fever, including two children, have been brought to Nassau for what the ministry terms “investigation.” The ministry said the two children tested negative for the disease, and are suffering from a different illness.
The ministerﾒs release took a positive tone, speaking of the success of the health officialsﾒ efforts thus far.
“These efforts are continuing to meet with success. The time taken to identify possible cases has been significantly reduced and more persons with symptoms are coming forward,” the release said.
As indicated on Tuesday, the ministry said surveillance teams have been carrying out contact tracing and geographical surveillance in areas of Exuma in which cases of malaria were discovered.
On Tuesday, Dr. Nottage assured that health officials, with the assistance of the Pan American Health Organization, were moving swiftly to try to prevent further spread of the disease.
Dr. Nottage said the victims include a 3-year-old, a 16-year-old female, and men between the ages of 21 to 51. Some of them are being treated at the Princess Margaret Hospital in “semi-isolation” and other victims who do not require isolation are being treated in Exuma.
Asked what the likelihood is of malaria spreading throughout the Bahamas, Dr. Nottage said it is “relatively low”.
On Wednesday, he did not say whether the most recent victims are males or females.
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
