2 months ago, told you how the health experts at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) declared that Zika was no longer a threat to Caribbean nations. Well today, the organization announced that the World Health Organization has removed its zika virus country classification scheme, which categorized most of the Caribbean territories has having active zika virus transmission.
This shift comes on the heels of date release by CARPHA, which showed evidence that the zika virus transmission in the Caribbean has been interrupted for over 12 months now, or that the virus was at undetectable levels. Canada, the UK, Europe, and the US, all report that no new zika infections had been detected over the last 12 months in travelers returning from the Caribbean.
In a release, Dr C. James Hospedales, the executive director of CARPHA, explained that the Zika classification was having an adverse impact on the tourism industry of the Caribbean nations.
He said, quote, “The Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region in the world. It is also one of the most popular honeymoon destinations worldwide, and ongoing cancellations, due to the classification of Caribbean countries as category 1 is hurting the industry unnecessarily. Therefore, CARPHA felt compelled to provide the evidence, and to advocate for the removal of this WHO Zika classification system.”
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