By: Staff Writer
April 18, 2025
The Belizean Ministry of Health and Wellness said in a release on Tuesday on its Facebook page that there are reported cases of locally transmitted malaria in Santa Elena Town and Cristo Rey Village, both located in the Cayo District in the western area.
The release also said that the initial case was detected on January 17 and following cases on March 11 and April 5.
The release also advised that the cases were detected through routine surveillance at both public and private healthcare facilities. In response, the Vector Control Program, in collaboration with regional health surveillance officers, has implemented several measures, including: House-to-house fever screening; Mosquito control activities, such as fogging and larviciding; and, Community awareness campaigns to educate residents on symptoms and prevention.
In 2023, Belize joined El Salvador to become the second country in Central America to be certified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as malaria-free.
To achieve this public health milestone, beginning in 2015, Belize’s national malaria program and the Vector Ecology Center reoriented their malaria program to place a greater focus on enhanced surveillance among high-risk populations. This enabled the strategic targeting of interventions and available resources in priority areas to reduce the incidence of this mosquito-transmitted disease.
Eighteen countries, including one territory in the Region of the Americas, are currently at risk of malaria. In the Americas, over 500,000 cases of malaria and around 116 deaths were reported in 2023.
While the WHO has certified two malaria vaccines for use in Africa, neither is available in Belize or the United States.