Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health has joined forces with parties concerned to speed up the eradication of breeding sources of common house mosquitoes, the carrier of the fatal Zika virus.
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Dr Ben Neuman, a virology professor at the University of Reading, said that once the virus has started to spread by mosquitoes locally, and not just by travellers, it can become entrenched in animals as well as people and be extremely hard to eradicate.
He said this could be a case of sporadic transmission.
The Health Ministry said the finding was based on a sequencing analysis of the virus found in two patients from the Aljunied Crescent and the Sims Drive cluster.
The Philippine health department confirmed on Monday that a 45-year-old woman from central Philippine city of Iloilo has tested positive for Zika virus, the sixth case recorded in the country.
However, authorities said they will continue to monitor the baby’s health and conduct regular blood and urine tests.
Moments earlier, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said the Philippines remains Zika-free, adding that there have been no reported locally-transmitted Zika case so far. “And we hope that this (new) one is sporadic that will not translate (into an outbreak) similar to what is being experienced elsewhere”, Bayugo said.
Experts caution that the study could overestimate the number of people at risk because they don’t know whether Zika had already landed in some of these countries in the past and allowed people to develop immunity.
“Over time, we expect Zika cases to emerge in more areas given the presence of the Aedes mosquitoes here”, the ministry said. Common symptoms include fever, skin rash, joint pains and conjunctivitis, the advisory said. The DOH reported 86 suspected cases only last Friday. The agency said it is now reviewing the latest scientific information on Zika and may update its guidance later.
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This post was syndicated from Punch Newspapers.
