Health Protection Agency HPA says 6 more individuals have tested positive for Filariasis in Kulhudhufushi City.
The Agency said today that from the 1st of this month to the 19th of this month, a total of 434 migrant workers have been screened for the diseases in Kulhudhufushi. It said that so far 25 have tested positive for Filariasis. Previously HPA said that 19 cases of the disease have been confirmed in the Northern City.
HPA stated that most of those who tested positive for Filariasis have come to the Maldives from countries where such cases are common. It assured that measures are now in place to prevent further spread of the once-eradicated disease.
The original 17 cases were detected at a health screening in the Northern city targeted for migrant workers on the occasion of World Aids Day.
Filariasis is a parasitic disease caused by an infection with roundworms of the Filarioidea type. These are spread by blood-feeding insects such as black flies and mosquitoes. They belong to the group of diseases called helminthiases.
The Maldives last reported a case of Filariasis back in 2004 and a survey in 2008 revealed that the disease has been eradicated from the Maldives.
In 2016, Maldives was validated by the World Health Organization as one of only two of the nine endemic countries in the South East Asia Region to have successfully eliminated lymphatic filariasis.
