Fatal Case of Yellow Fever: French Guiana

Official communications from the Cellule D’ Epidemiologie in Martinique and the Institut de Pasteur in French Guiana have confirmed the occurrence of a fatal case of yellow fever in a 30 year old Amerindian woman in French Guiana. This patient, who had an onset of illness on March 28, and died of hepato-nephritis on April 2, resided in the village of Aloike, which is situated upriver from Maripasoula along the Maroni river. This case has been classified as of jungle or sylvatic origin.

Human Rabies: Suriname

In April, the PAHO/WHO representative in Suriname informed CAREC of an outbreak of human rabies in an isolated area in the Brokopondo region of that country. Epidemiologists from the Medical Mission in Suriname (a government-financed, autonomous organisation with responsibility for health care in the interior) investigated the outbreak. In general, about 14 persons, ranging in age from 4 to 60 years, were bitten by bats. To date, three of these cases have died and the investigative information suggests that as many as 35 persons may have been exposed.

Animal Rabies: Trinidad and Tobago

An outbreak of rabies among farm animals was recently documented in a north-eastern area of Trinidad. No human cases have been recorded, although the disease has been confirmed in over 70 animals.

Dengue Virus type 3: Puerto Rico

A third case of dengue fever due to type 3 infection was recently confirmed in Puerto Rico in a 22 year old male with no history of travel outside of that territory. This patient’s date of onset of illness was April 24,1998.

Dr. MJ Lewis and Team
CAREC’s Epidemiology Division

May 29, 1998

A GENERAL COMMENT

Any interpretation of the data presented in this report should be undertaken with the following in mind:

1. Chlamydia infection was reported from six CMCs in 1998 as compared with seven during the corresponding period of 1997.
2. No weekly malaria data is currently available from Guyana.
3. ARIs among under fives are not under surveillance in four CMCs.
4. Only five CMCs are currently reporting data on genital syndromes.
5. Data on gastroenteritis from Trinidad and Tobago is not age-categorized, and has therefore been excluded from the sub-regional totals.
6. To date, AIDS Surveillance Reports for the first quarter of 1998 have only been received from three CMCs countries.

During this reporting period, no communicable disease reports have been received from either Anguilla, Suriname, Aruba or the Netherlands Antilles.