In an update on Wednesday, Singapore authorities said the number of infections there had risen to 115.Malaysia’s health ministry said five other Malaysians who live and work in Singapore were among the city-state’s cases.
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Since the outbreak began past year, more than 1.5 million people have been infected with Zika in Brazil, and more than 1,600 babies born with abnormally small heads and brains.
Although Zika was first identified in 1947, the virus wasn’t considered a major health threat until a major outbreak in Brazil a year ago revealed that it can lead to severe birth defects when pregnant women are infected. “We know that people are suffering (and) we know that it’s unsafe for pregnant women”, Larin said. Those infected display flu-like symptoms such as mild fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes.
Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the announcement doesn’t change the county’s mosquito control efforts…with inspectors on the ground spraying and dropping larvicide daily.
Nobody returning from the Games, neither travellers nor athletes, has reported Zika symptoms, although most cases of the disease are asymptomatic, Salama said. Brazil presented data that the experts said had convinced them that no infections had occurred either during the Games or after visitors and athletes had returned to their home countries.
“We have a capacity of testing 1,500 people for Zika and will enhance it up to 20,000 if necessary”, Azad told The Daily Star.
The ministry did not specify the locations, but the virus has been spreading daily beyond an initial cluster.
An estimated 2 billion people in various parts of Asia and Africa could be at risk of Zika infection, according to a new study conducted by researchers in Canada and the United Kingdom.
“But in other countries where it might enter at some time, that might not be the case”. A travel advisory for pregnant women was also announced Thursday for some Miami areas.
Domestic Zika cases include 23 believed to be the result of sexual transmission, one that was the result of laboratory exposure, plus the new cases from local mosquitoes.
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Health expenditure per capita was used as a proxy of a country’s capacity to detect and effectively respond to a possible Zika virus outbreak.
