Port of Prince, Jan 17 (Prensa Latina) The Haitian Minister of Public Health and Population (MPHP), Florence Duperval Guillaume, confirmed the presence of the zika virus in Haiti.

In a statement he explained that new analysis confirm the virus in five of 11 blood samples analyzed and added that four of the confirmed cases are from the Delmas municipality and one of Petionville.

He recalled that as dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever, this disease is transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquito, so the preventive measures are the same.

He explained that zika symptoms are similar to those of dengue and chikungunya fever, conjunctivitis, headache, rash, muscle and joint pains.

When treated on time, the disease is not lethal, he said and added that the Pan American and World Health organizations (PAHO/WHO) has not reported death cases by zika.

However, he warned that the virus represents a great danger to pregnant women because it can cause an abortion or, in other cases, microcephaly in children.

The head of MPHP called the public not to take aspirin when symptoms of fever because it can cause bleeding with serious consequences for their lives.

The minister urged people to sleep under mosquito nets, wear long clothes that cover arms and legs and apply repellents.

But above all he insisted on covering water containers, keep the house clean and destroy mosquito breeding sites.

With Haiti there are 14 countries where PAHO has confirmed zika virus.

The others are Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, French Guyana, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Paraguay, Surinam and Venezuela.