The same mosquito, a new virus

Although there are no cases reported in the country, the alert is maintained and intensified in Guayaquil. The Aedes aegypti mosquito, which causes dengue,zika and chikunguña, now sows one more virus in the region, mayaro.

A germ that although not entirely unknown, since it was first detected in the 50’s, has begun to worry (and indeed has forced to act) the local health authorities because it could be transmitted in the short term in Latin America.

The alarm, which arises after a case was detected at the end of the year in Haiti, where the disease had never seen before, for which there are no vaccines, is ignited because, taking into account the alterations of the ecosystem and the population displacements, it can be domiciled in the blink of an eye in Ecuador.

“At the end of the day, it is the same vector that transmits it. We are not exempt from anything,” says Ernesto Carrasco, president of the Guayas Medical Association, when revealing that due to the scarce research on the virus, its potential and speed of infection is unknown.