Fol­low­ing con­sul­ta­tion with the Caribbean Pub­lic Health Agency (CARPHA), the Min­istry of Health is con­firm­ing a sixth case of the Zi­ka virus in Trinidad. There are no con­firmed cas­es in To­ba­go.

The min­istry said the pa­tient is a 37-year-old male from Gulf View, La Ro­maine who pre­sent­ed with fever, rash and joint pains. This is the third per­son to have con­tract­ed the virus in this area. A moth­er and daugh­ter were con­firmed as the first two cas­es in the area.

Res­i­dents who have been com­plain­ing about over­grown bush­es and clogged drains in the area, al­so signed a a pe­ti­tion which they sent to their Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment At­tor­ney Gen­er­al Faris Al Rawi to have the area cleaned.

The min­istry said the San Fer­nan­do City Cor­po­ra­tion, In­sect Vec­tor Con­trol Di­vi­sion and the Coun­ty Med­ical Of­fi­cer of Health have been in­formed and field work has com­menced. The Min­istry of Health con­tin­ues to urge cit­i­zens to take steps to pre­vent the in­fec­tion of them­selves and their loved ones.

The Min­istry has out­lined the fol­low­ing guide­lines for cit­i­zens to fol­low.

1. Dis­pose of all un­want­ed con­tain­ers/items in the yard or en­vi­rons which can col­lect wa­ter and be­come mos­qui­to breed­ing grounds.

2. Cov­er wa­ter con­tain­ers such as bar­rels, drums or buck­ets with a mos­qui­to proof cov­er­ing.

3. En­sure that your drains and gut­ter­ing al­low the free flow of wa­ter.

4. Emp­ty and scrub the sides of wa­ter vas­es or use dirt or sand in­stead to sup­port flow­ers.

5. Cov­er ex­trem­i­ties when out in the evenings.

6. Use bed nets that are tight­ly tucked un­der the mat­tress for pro­tec­tion at night.

7. Use in­sect re­pel­lant that con­tains DEET as an ac­tive in­gre­di­ent.