THE Ministry of Health is reporting that Jamaica may have turned the corner with its battle against malaria, with an average of two cases recorded per day since December 21, compared to five or six previously.

There are currently 186 confirmed cases of the disease, with 159 people successfully treated.

Dr Sheila Campbell Forrester, acting chief medical officer in the health ministry told reporters last month that the positivity reading of the more than 4,000 blood samples that were read was below five per cent.

The ministry’s intensive house-to-house fever surveys and mosquito control activities, meanwhile, will continue in the affected areas, including Denham Town, Trench Town, Tivoli and Delacree Park.

Campbell Forrester said the vector control teams have made tremendous gains in finding and treating breeding sites. Last month the ministry reported that it had identified 50 breeding sites, 25 of which were identified in the Corporate Area, and 24 in St Catherine.

In addition, Dr Campbell Forrester noted that the recent addition of four Cuban medical officials to the mosquito control team had enhanced the ministry’s efforts.

The Cubans, who arrived on the island last week, include an entomologist, a parasitologist and two laboratory technicians to read smears at the laboratory.

The ministry began another phase of its malaria vector control programme last Friday, as the number of confirmed malaria cases rose above the 160 mark.

“This latest initiative is a crucial component of the vector control programme established to prevent further malaria transmission in the affected and unaffected areas in the corporate community,” the ministry said in a statement.