Local health officials are expressing optimism in regards to the Zika virus, saying that suspected cases have diminished significantly since the start of the new year.

According to the Ministry of Health’s official website, as of last Monday, there were no new cases of the Zika virus reported in the country.

“The number of suspected cases we are getting from the facilities has decreased since the hurricane, so I’m assuming maybe the breeding sites were destroyed,” Senior Medical Officer at the Department of Public Health Dr. Merciana Moxey told the Journal in an interview.

“Internationally, the numbers have also gone down. We haven’t had any reported cases globally since January of this year and this was a country in Africa, as far as the Caribbean, it was late last year since we had a reported case.”

But she said officials have not completely let down their guard.

“It’s still on the radar and we’re still monitoring it. We’re waiting for WHO (World Health Organization) to put out some more information as to where we’re headed but the numbers have gone down,” Dr. Moxey added.

Despite the numbers decreasing, there has been a recent international incident that has prompted some concern.

Officials in Washington, D.C.’s public health laboratory had to repeat Zika tests for nearly 300 pregnant women, including two women who were mistakenly told they tested negative for the mosquito-borne virus that has been shown to cause birth defects.

A routine check of lab practices in December revealed that all of the lab’s Zika tests were coming back negative, raising concerns about their accuracy.

To date, there are still 25 confirmed cases of Zika recorded in The Bahamas.

Twenty-three were recorded on the island of New Providence, one on the island of Bimini and one on the island of Eleuthera.

All cases sought medical attention after having symptoms suggestive of Zika virus infection.

All patients have been treated for associated symptoms and are doing well.

Based on the histories received from the cases, it has been determined that there is a mix of travel associated and local transmission.