Health workers fumigate to prevent Dengue, Chikunguya and Zika virus, at El Angel cemetery, in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Jan 20, 2016.
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Singapore can not rule out the possibility of the Zika virus making its way here, Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor said yesterday, as cases have been reported in neighbouring countries.
She also noted that doctors who may be confused about a patient showing symptoms similar to that of dengue fever, chikungunya or Zika, should proceed as if the individual has dengue fever, otherwise death can occur.
Scientists from Brazil’s Fiocruz Institute and Parana Catholic University published a study of a case that showed the virus had passed from an infected woman to her baby through the placenta.
The first city in South America to host the Games promised to attack breeding sites and to shield visitors from a virus whose dramatic spread, six months from the opening ceremony, is already threatening to trigger panic.
As in other countries in the region, Salvadoran authorities have tried to slow the spread of Zika by launching fumigation programs in mosquito-breeding areas.
Zika, which resembles a light case of the flu, is often so mild that people don’t realise they have it.
The virus has also been linked to an epidemic of microcephaly – a developmental defect resulting in a smaller-than-normal head or brain – in Brazil, and the birth defect has been found in other children where the Zika virus has been confirmed. He was admitted to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital last Thursday, and died the next day.
“If a person is infected and then travels to a country where the Aedes mosquito is present, the mosquito can bite the person and thereby introduce the virus in a place where it previously did not exist”, Bellei said. But the difficulty of diagnosing Zika and the fact that Guillain-Barre can set in weeks later have made it tough to confirm the link. Health officials recommend covering up, using insect repellant and keeping windows closed or screened.
Brazil has recorded 3,893 suspected cases of microcephaly since October.
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Three people in NY who travelled to areas where the virus was spreading rapidly tested positive for the virus, city officials said on Friday. US Authorities have warned pregnant women against travelling to Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Samoa, Surinam and Venezuela. That same year, Australia also reported a case of Zika fever in a returning citizen from Indonesia.
