Clean-up in Kingston to fight malaria 'crisis'

Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, will undergo a clean-up operation in its downtown areas in an effort to halt a possible spread of malaria, according to local media.

The leader of Jamaica's labour opposition party, Bruce Golding, claimed that over 1,500 blood samples from infected areas had yet to be tested, meaning that the total number of cases could exceed the 61 already confirmed.

Mr Golding was quoted in the Jamaica Gleaner as stating that the malaria outbreak was "a very serious issue with major national implication[s]".

The government's health minister, Horace Dalley, noted that some samples had been sent to Canada and that Jamaica's laboratories were under pressure.

A huge cleaning exercise is underway in downtown Kingston to prevent the spread of the disease and areas ripe for mosquitoes, the main vectors of malaria, from forming.

Mass gatherings in infected areas are prohibited by the government's health ministry.