The specialist’s warnings add to a previous alert from the Russian Embassy in Havana.
MIAMI, United States. – Russian epidemiologist Gennadiy Onishchenko advised his compatriots to avoid international travel during the New Year holidays, particularly to tropical destinations such as Cuba, due to outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases and the deterioration of sanitary conditions on the Island.
The specialist’s warnings are added to a previous alert from the Russian Embassy in Havana and come in the middle of an epidemic that has already caused dozens of deaths recognized by the Cuban authorities.
In statements to the Russian media Life.ruOnishchenko was blunt: “If you haven’t bought a trip yet, don’t do it. And if you already have one, return it and think about resting close to home. Traveling abroad and risking contracting an infection, paying for it, is, to say the least, foolish.”
The epidemiologist directly linked his recommendations to the Cuban health situation. Onishchenko maintained that “the combination of blackouts, lack of medicines and infectious outbreaks makes Cuba a high-risk destination” and recommended his fellow citizens “spend the holidays at home and take care of their health.”
Likewise, he stressed that his concern is not limited to the chikungunya virus, whose outbreak currently affects Cuba and other areas of the Caribbean, but rather the global impact that travel can have on vulnerable people. “It is not just about the virus, but about the climatic risks and the physical effort involved in sudden changes in temperature,” warned the specialist, recalling the jump from a humid tropical climate to sub-zero temperatures in winter for many Russian travelers.
The epidemiologist’s warnings come a few days after the Cuban Government itself recognized the seriousness of the epidemiological situation. On December 1, the Vice Minister of Health, Carilda Peña, reported that 33 people had died in recent months from mosquito-borne diseases: 12 from dengue and 21 from chikungunya, at least 21 of them under 18 years of age. The official added that the epidemic has affected “at least a third of the population” and mentioned Havana and Santiago de Cuba among the hardest hit areas.
The outbreak has been aggravated by the economic crisis, the lack of fuel and the scarcity of resources to fumigate, remove accumulated garbage and repair defective infrastructure, factors that favor the proliferation of mosquitoes of the genus Aedestransmitters of dengue, chikungunya and other arboviruses.
In this context, Onishchenko’s position represents a new setback for the already battered Cuban tourism industry, which counts Russia as one of its main source markets.
At the end of October, the Russian Embassy in Cuba broadcast on its official channels a message addressed to Russian citizens on the Island or with travel plans, where it warned about “the seasonal increase in the country in the incidence of dengue, chikungunya and Oropouche fever, which are transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes,” according to a note from the diplomatic mission itself. In that statement, the Embassy asked travelers to “have[n] Keep this factor in mind when visiting[n] Cuba and observe[n] the necessary precautions.”
The middle REPORTUR.mx Also remember that that alert was surprising because Russia has established itself as one of the main tourist markets on the Island.
