Out of the nine municipalities of the province, only the capital city show
a rate higher than the former figure which represents the ratio of
inspected homes to the findings of the vector’s larvae, whose permissible
value should be up to 0.05.

Medical doctor Julio Cesar Popa, director of the Provincial Anti-vectorial
Fight and Surveillance Unit told ACN this entails an important risk due to
the large number of people settled in this municipality, which has
currently the largest population of the country, according to figures from
the National Statistics and Information Office.

Dr. Cesar Popa insisted on the importance of strengthening hygiene
measures before the arrival of the rainy season and noted that the winter
is favorable for eliminating the insect due to the lower temperatures.

Recently, Santiago de Cuba’s health authorities called for holding public
meetings in the communities to assess the effectiveness of current
sanitary measures and the importance of the role of every neighbor in the
campaign to eliminate the vector.

Dr. Cesar Popa said the province is fostering the use of fishes that feed
on larvae like the “guajacon”, a small fresh and brackish water fish
typical from Cuba, as an effective biologic control method.

Banks of guajacon fishes are under development in different policlinics in
the province for their use in areas where infestation risks are higher.
More than 3,000 people and substantial material resources have been
mobilized for the anti-vector campaign and despite efforts by the health,
political and governmental authorities, the people’s perception of the
risk of becoming sick or even die as a result of the mosquito-borne
disease is low, warned the doctor.