Ministry of Tourism fights back against Zika fears

El Salvador has recorded more than 7,000 cases of the Zika virus since December and 13 Zika-infected pregnant women have had babies without defects.

Amid widespread alarm raised by the Zika virus rapidly spreading across Latin America and the Caribbean, including among potential travelers, El Salvador announced a new plan Monday that aims to protect tourists from the disease.

The new measures include keeping a closer eye on health and sanitation conditions, especially in the most popular tourist areas, the Salvadoran Ministry of Tourism said.

Authorities will put increased pressure on tourist establishments to live up to sanitation and safety guidelines in order to keep well-traveled areas free of the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits the Zika virus.

Generalized violence caused the Peace Corps to pull out of El Salvador last month. From what I understand, their decision was not based on any specific incidents against US tourists or against PCVs. Instead, it was both precautionary (given such high levels something was bound to happen sooner or later) and reactionary (they pulled out of Honduras when murder rates were roughly where El Salvador is today).

Some groups that were on the fence about their trips to El Salvador were then hit with news of the Zika virus. When I told my mom that I was going on a trip next month, she feared that I was going to "Guatemala or somewhere with the virus." Fortunately, she was comforted when I told her that I was going to the US-Mexico border (even though she was very worried about that when I went in 2014). There's a great deal of irrational fear about the Zika virus, but much of it understandable.

Unfortunately, the Zika virus news came on the heels of El Salvador capturing US attention when it was declared the world's most violent country (not at war?) in 2015. The violence and then the mosquito has led to a number of cancellations for groups that were traveling to El Salvador this year. I'm not sure that is necessary from what I read but I don't blame those groups for being overly cautious.

However, this is not the time to withdraw our solidarity with the people of El Salvador. Life has certainly gotten rougher and that is exactly why now is not the time to just walk away.