Malaria mosquito stings a victim

Up to late Tuesday, they had confirmed 18 cases.

"The cases are in a very confined area of Kingston", Dr Marion Bullock-Ducasse, Director of Disaster Management at Jamaica's ministry of health told BBC Caribbean.

"In 4 communities: Delacree Park, Denham Town, Trenchtown and Tivoli Gardens".

Imported cases

These communities are in the poor inner-city area of Kingston. Have poverty and poor living conditions played a part? Dr Bullock-Ducasse says the thing that concerns them more is that the malaria may have been "imported" through travel.

"We are not sure (about where the disease originated) but we have full travel histories we are analysing them", Dr Bullock Ducasse said.

"We have not yet identified the specific source".

Jamaica has been certified free of malaria since the 1960s, and last case before this current outbreak was in the 1950s.

Opposition criticism

The main opposition Jamaica Labour Party has been criticise to attack the government over it.

"It should not have occurred", opposition spokesman on health Ken Baugh told reporters in Kingston on Tuesday.

"We have maintained and monitored the mosquito population for years. It should never have fallen off".

Health inspectors are doing tests on people they believe to be at risk, in a one mile radius of all the cases.

They're also spraying homes and drains in the area, and giving people information on how to spot malaria and prevent it spreading.