Zika: new map for Mexico and Dominican Republic cleans up rivers

A new public-private project designed to eliminate breeding grounds for the disease-carrying the Aedes aegypti mosquito will do the country another public service by cleaning up the two largest rivers in Santo Domingo, the Ozama and the Isabela.

Dominican Republic declares war on mosquitoes. Image by John Tann / CC BY 2.0

Both rivers are extremely polluted, and the initiative is expected to removed large amounts of trash, specifically plastic and polystyrene containers, in order to reduce potential for them to become mosquito habitats. In an effort to make the project sustainable, residents will also be trained on how to keep the waterways clean and some communities will be relocated further from the riverbanks. Read more: laht.com

(Bailey Johnson)

Mexico moves to calm Zika virus fears. Image by Esparta Palma / CC BY 2.0

Meanwhile, in an effort to calm fears about the Zika virus, Mexican tourism officials have released a map showing how few cases of the disease there are in the country and how far away from the most popular resorts those cases are.

The map is a response to another map published by the USA’s Center for Disease Control which showed entire countries as being affected by the virus which is thought to harm unborn babies. Mexican authorities wanted to show that only isolated pockets of the country have seen small-scale outbreaks and that main tourist areas like Baja California, San Miguel de Allende and Cancún have so far been virus free. Read more: travelweekly.com

(Clifton Wilkinson)