“The confirmation of the second case of Zika in Kota Kinabalu suggests that the virus is already present within our communities”.
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The Philippines confirmed on Monday its first case of Zika this year and said it was “highly likely” it had been locally transmitted.
Two more Indians have been infected with Zika virus in Singapore, taking the total number of Indian nationals tested positive for the mosquito-borne disease in the city-state to 15, health officials said today.
According to Lam, Macau has the necessary equipment to test for Zika, adding that it takes about three hours to obtain results.
Most people who are infected with Zika have mild symptoms but infections in pregnant women have been shown to cause microcephaly – a severe birth defect in which the head and brain are undersized – as well as other brain abnormalities.
The WHO emphasized the need to fast-track research on Zika infections in order to better understand the link between Zika and pregnancy complications, including microcephaly.
Since reporting its first Zika infection, Malaysia has increased insecticide spraying to kill mosquitoes.
Zika is spread by the Aedes mosquito, which also spreads dengue fever.
“Over time, we expect Zika cases to emerge in more areas given the presence of the Aedes mosquitoes here”, the ministry said.
There is now no treatment or vaccine to prevent Zika infection, which causes symptoms including a mild fever, rash, red eyes, joint pain and a headache.
In February, the World Health Organization declared the spread of Zika a global emergency, and epidemics have been sparked in at least 70 countries. This year, there have been 75,000 dengue cases and 166 fatalities.
But regional health experts believe Zika is significantly under-reported in Southeast Asia as authorities fail to conduct adequate screening and also because of its usually mild symptoms.
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“For countries with a finite amount of resources, this may help them use those resources as efficiently as possible”, said Dr Kamran Khan, an infectious diseases physician and scientist at St Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, the study’s senior author. The virus in the Americas is an Asian strain that was responsible for a large outbreak in French Polynesia and other Pacific Islands in 2013 and 2014.
