Summary

An outbreak of viral conjunctivitis is currently underway in the French West Indies.

Indeed, routine health surveillance indicators show a significant increase in cases of infectious conjunctivitis in our territories over the past five weeks. Samples collected in Guadeloupe have identified enterovirus, and in Martinique, both enterovirus and adenovirus are circulating simultaneously.

In Guadeloupe, the outbreak began in Marie-Galante and has since spread to Grande-Terre and, more recently, to Basse-Terre.

In Martinique, the outbreak, which was initially concentrated in the central and southern parts of the island, has since spread to a large part of the territory.

In Saint Martin, the outbreak began two weeks ago, while the epidemiological situation regarding conjunctivitis in Saint Barthélemy remains stable.

In the Caribbean and South America, an outbreak has been ongoing in French Guiana since late April (Week 2017-17). Suriname, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti have also reported a large-scale conjunctivitis outbreak for several weeks.