Many Caribbean Destinations Still At Risk For Zika CDC Says

Agent of the sanitary department destroys mosquito larvae nests in Cayenne, Frfench Guiana. (Photo credit: JODY AMIET/AFP/Getty Images)

News Americas, MIAMI, FL, Thurs. Nov. 16, 2017: The US Centers For Disease Control, CDC, is warning Americans that “many Caribbean destinations are still at risk for #Zika!”

Pregnant women are being warned to avoid the hurricanes impacted islands of  Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Turks and Caicos and the US Virgin Islands because of mosquito-borne illnesses such as Zika, dengue, and chikungunya.

The warning comes as the CDC also urged Americans to postpone travel to areas severely affected by the hurricanes in the Caribbean region because of serious health and safety risks that may be present while medical care may be limited or unavailable.

The agency said contaminated drinking water and reduced access to safe water, food, and shelter in some areas may create conditions for outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Zika, leptospirosis, dengue, hepatitis a, typhoid, vibriosis, and influenza.

Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Aruba; The Bahamas; Barbados; Bonaire; British Virgin Islands; Cuba; Curaçao; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Grenada; Haiti; Jamaica; Montserrat; the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a US territory; Saba; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Sint Eustatius; Sint Maarten; Trinidad and Tobago; Turks and Caicos Islands; US Virgin Islands all remain on the CDC list of zika risk areas in the Caribbean.