Guyana dealing with outbreak of gastro in rural areas

January 12, 2017 in Regional

Guyana’s Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (CMC) – The Guyana government says it has sent a medical team to three Amerindian areas in Region Nine amid reports of an outbreak of gastroenteritis.

Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence said the medical team had been sent to Aishalton, Shea Village and Areunaw and will hold meetings with the Toshaos and residents on how to resolve the issue and prevent further contamination.

Lawrence said that there were 58 cases of the infection in the three villages with the majority of patients being school children.

The Ministry said it is awaiting the results of samples taken from the residents for testing and that the medical team also conducted house to house visits. It said there has been no reports of any fatality.

“The infectious disease staff was sent in to look at all the elements to ascertain which element was the cause. We looked at the animals, drinking water and mining,” Lawrence said.