The Jamaican Ministry of Health issued a press release, yesterday, stating that Jamaica has reported it's first two (2) cases of the H1N1 virus (formerly called the swine flu virus).
One reported case was in the parish of St. Andrew, the other in the parish of St. Catherine. (Both parishes are located in the South and South-Eastern parts of the island, as shown in the map of Jamaica in our inset photo.)
Both persons had recently travelled to New York,USA, where they picked up the virus. Since the virus did not originate in Jamaica, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is calling these two cases, 'imported'.
The MOH has informed the public that both persons have been successfully treated and that there is no need for panic, as case workers have been dilligently following up the two recovered persons and their families to ensure that the disease did not spread to the rest of the communities which they are from.
Please read our previous post, here, to see how you can protect yourself from the H1N1 virus.
For those who plan to travel and for general information, you can follow up with the latest reports of the H1N1 virus, here. This article also includes information on how to protect yourself, if you are planning to travel.
(I would like to thank Bonita Jamaica for the use of her Flickr inset photo of the map of Jamaica.)
Gillian
Sources Include
1) Television Jamaica, Prime Time News at 7:00 p.m., May 30, 2009
2) Article, "Two possible cases of H1N1 virus in Jamaica", RadioJamaica.com, May 30, 2009
