A US tourist who came to Belize last month has been diagnosed with whooping cough. Tonight, public health authorities are concerned because she was all over the country and may have come in contact with dozens of Belizeans - especially those in the service industry. A press release says, quote, "the visitor was considered infectious during their travel in Belize. To date, the Ministry has no confirmed case detected in Belize from this imported case. However, the Ministry continues to monitor the situation."
Ministry of Health Epidemiologist Dr. Ethan Gough told us today via phone why the case has public health implications:..
Dr. Ethan Gough, MOH Epidemiologist
"They were very mobile, so they were in several parts of the country and potentially came into contact with potential large number of people. So far what we've been able to find out is that they spent some time in San Pedro, San Ignacio and Placencia."
Reporter
"Have you all reached out to these people or to their establishments?"
Dr. Ethan Gough, MOH Epidemiologist
"Yes we are reaching out to them to determine the vaccine coverage in those expose people to just to make sure that they are up to date with their vaccine schedules, but beyond that they potentially they could have come in contact with a number of other people, just traveling around, eating, at the airport. It's hard to know exactly who else they might have come in contact with."
Reporter
"Explain to me what symptoms make it distinct from the regular cough?"
Dr. Ethan Gough, MOH Epidemiologist
"The whooping is noise that's often made usually of a cough. It is what makes it distinct and with the possibility also of vomiting during coughing."
Quoting again from the press release, "Whooping cough is a bacterial infection…with very violent and uncontrollable episodes of cough, difficulty breathing with a 'whooping noise' usually at the end of the cough episode, vomiting that occurs during or after coughing, and exhaustion after the cough episode. If you or anyone around you present these symptoms, please visit or report to your nearest health center." End quote. Clinics have a whooping cough-containing vaccine, free of cost for children under age five who are considered most at risk. Whooping cough can be managed with antibiotic treatment and it is given to anyone who shows symptoms and was in direct contact with an infected person.
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