Jamaica spending millions to upgrade UWI lab to test for Zika virus

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Thursday January 21, 2016 – The Jamaica Government is spending J$10 million (US$82,936) to upgrade and improve the Virology Laboratory at the University of the West Indies (UWI) to ensure that testing for the Zika Virus (ZikV) can be carried out locally.

Minister of Health Horace Dalley made the announcement yesterday as ZikV, which is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, continues to spread in other parts of the Caribbean and Latin America.

No cases have been reported in Jamaica to date.

“The biggest challenge we have is that there is no lab in Jamaica right now that has the capacity or is accredited or certified to test for Zika. We will be investing in the university’s Virology Lab to ensure that they have the capacity,” the health minister said.

He said the upgrading of the lab should be completed within the next three to four weeks. The necessary equipment has already been ordered and the staffing at the laboratory will be expanded, Dalley disclosed.

Currently, suspected samples of ZikV are sent to the Trinidad and Tobago-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) laboratory for testing.

“So, we (won’t) have to send any suspected case of the Zika Virus to Trinidad and to get (results) back in 24 to 48 hours. The Virology Lab at the University of the West Indies will give us the results in three hours which is faster,” Minister Dalley said.

He further noted that the laboratory would have the capacity to test approximately 100 cases per day.

Dalley said teams at the ministry and UWI will continue to meet to ensure that the laboratory operates effectively.

ZikV is from the same family of viruses as dengue and Chikungunya. They share similar symptoms, which include fever, joint and muscle pain, conjunctivitis, headache, weakness, rash and swelling of the lower limbs.

The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week.

The Ministry of Health earlier this week urged Jamaican women to delay pregnancy for the next six to 12 months given the possible connection between Zika and the neurological condition, microcephaly.

Microcephaly is an abnormal growth of the brain and stunting of the growth of the head of the foetus, arising from infection in the first months of pregnancy. Babies who develop microcephaly in the womb may not live to full term, may be born prematurely, may be still born or may survive but with lifelong disability.