And the agony continues. No village or town have been spared as the virus, transported by the mosquito, continues to wreak havoc on those infected. The country is not alone. In Guadeloupe, St Maarten, Martinique, Haiti and the Dominican Republic the virus continues to spread unabated in the process sickening tens of thousands.

Now health authorities in the United States are reporting the presence of the virus in Miami. Thankfully, all the 18 cases reported so far have been imported. Haiti accounts for 12 of those cases, 3 from the Dominican Republic, 2 from Martinique and one case from Dominica.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic put the number of those infected at 52, 976 and Haiti reports 15,000 while Dominica officially reports in excess of 3 000 cases. In the French overseas department of Martinique it is reported that to date eight percent of its population or over 31 000 have taken ill. In Guadeloupe the number stands at 6 percent of the population or over 24 000.

However, there is an admission that these numbers may be grossly understated as health officials lose count, and those falling ill simply do not report to the health authorities.

Drawing on the experience of La Reunion in a 2005 outbreak where 36 percent of the population (270 000 from a population of 750 000) fell ill, health experts worry that what we are witnessing in the Caribbean may just be the tip of the iceberg.

Based on this scenario there could well be in excess of 5 million cases of the debilitating illness throughout the Caribbean region by the end of the summer. Thankfully, the major population centers of Cuba and Puerto Rico appear, at least to date, to have dodged the onslaught.