Two of the four suspected cases of Chikungunya in the Belmopan area have come back positive for Dengue - which has health authorities ruling out Chik-V in both cases. That's the case of the sisters from Las Flores who went to a private clinic in Belmopan and one of them tested positive for Chik-V, but on a quick test which is not approved by CARPHA, the regional testing headquarters in Trinidad. When their samples were tested at the Central Medial Lab in Belize on a CARPAHA approved test, they both tested positive for dengue, and once that appears, no further test for chikungunya is performed.
That leaves two more cases -both women from the Flores area of Belmopan who tested positive Chikungunya in El Salvador earlier in the year - returned to Belize, and started showing symptoms here. In the first case - her sample has been sent to CARAPHA in Trinidad - and the result is expected next week. In the other case, health authorities are still doing an active investigation on the ground - but have not yet collected a sample - because they are not getting full cooperation.
But health teams are on the ground in Flores and today took samples from six persons who could be showing symptoms of Chik-V.
We'll keep you posted.
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