Rising mosquito population is a threat to Berbice

Dear Editor,
There have been a number of cases of Zika infections that are confirmed in Guyana. One would assume, that the actual number of persons infected would be in a greater number than those that are confirmed. The dangers that the Zika virus presents to the population is already widely known. Hence, my question is; “what is Guyana doing to prevent the spread of this disease?
I am rather surprised at the little effort made by the Ministry of Public Health to curb the spread of this devastating disease. I am a resident of Corentyne/Berbice, and I have noticed that over the last two weeks, that the mosquito population has risen sharply. Yet, there is no attempt by the Ministry to fog the area, to keep the mosquito population in check. Are we going to wait until a very large number of persons are affected /infected? Or is the Ministry only focusing on urban/town areas? If there is serious concern about the dangers of this virus, then certainly there would have been a more proactive approach in tackling the spread of Zika.
I am not a medical doctor, but from my understanding, the only sure way of knowing whether someone is suffering from Zika infection, is by carrying out a blood test. Of recent, I am hearing a lot of persons claiming to be infected by Zika with certainty. When asked, they say that when they visited medical doctors, they were told that they are infected with Zika virus, and they are then given corresponding treatment. While I agree that the symptoms might resemble Zika (or might actually be Zika infection), how can a medical doctor be certain of the patient’s condition without conducting any blood test? I therefore believe some medical doctors may be using the situation to their advantage. As such, every public hospital should be equipped to conduct tests on patients to determine if they are actually infected by the virus.
Muhamad N. Hussain