When news
broke over the weekend that Singapore had its first Zika case involving a
expatriate who lived in Watten Estate in Bukit Timah, residents in the
neighbourhood became alarmed.
Madam
Chan, who occasionally stays with her daughter's family in Watten Estate, was
shocked when she heard the new, Singapore local news daily The New Paper
reports.
"I
don't even dare to have plants or ponds because of this virus," she said.
In a
joint press release by Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency
(NEA) yesterday, it was revealed that the "patient is a 48-year-old male
Singapore permanent resident who had travelled to Sao Paulo, Brazil from March
27 to May 7 this year."
Meanwhile
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya assured Malaysians that the
country is still safe from the Zika virus.
"We
have done the survey and investigate every case involving dengue fever for Zika
research and there are no cases of Zika virus in Malaysia," he told
reporters after a World Health Day event at Menara DBKL yesterday.
Health
Ministry's director-general, Datuk Noor Hisham Abdullah also confirmed that the
affected individual never visited Malaysia.
He also
stated that our country had been in contact with its Singapore counterpart to
exchange information on the Zika virus, and that Malaysia is free of the virus
so far, The Straits Times report. The Singapore news daily also published a
guideline with information obtained from its Health Ministry.
1. WHAT
IS THE ZIKA VIRUS?
First
isolated by scientists in 1947 from a sentinel rhesus monkey, the word
"zika" is derived from the Zika forest in Uganda. The Aedes mosquito
- which also spreads dengue and chikungunya - is the only known carrier of the
virus.
2. WHAT
ARE THE SYMPTOMS TO LOOK OUT FOR?
During
the first week of infection, the virus can be found in the blood and passed
from an infected person to a mosquito through mosquito bites. Symptoms like a slight
fever, rash, conjunctivitis, headache as well as joint and muscle pain are
commonly displayed. Hospitalization is usually not prescribed and deaths are
rare.
3. CAN
THE VIRUS BE TREATED?
There is
currently no vaccine available for the virus, so only the symptoms can be
treated. Similar to preventive measures taken to eradicate the Aedes mosquito,
curbing its spread means getting rid of stagnant pools of water. Using insect
repellent, wearing clothing that cover the body, arms and legs, and sleep under
mosquito nets or in rooms with wire mesh are among the other preventive
measures.
4. IS THE
VIRUS REALLY LINKED TO A BIRTH DEFECT?
There has
been a marked increase in microcephaly in Brazil over the past year, with 4,759
cases reported in the week through May 7, 2016 with the Zika virus alleged to
cause microcephaly. More studies are being planned to establish the risks of a
Zika virus infection during pregnancy.
5. HOW
MANY COUNTRIES HAVE REPORTED ACTIVE TRANSMISSION OF THE VIRUS?
As of May
12, 2016, 48 countries and territories in Latin America, Africa and the
Caribbean have active Zika virus transmissions, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) reports.
6. SHOULD
OTHER REGIONS BE WORRIED?
The Zika
virus had been endemic in areas in Africa, South-east Asia and the Pacific
Islands before 2015. In March 2014, two tourists from Canada and Germany were
diagnosed with Zika fever after returning from Thailand in 2013. That same
year, Australia also reported a case of Zika fever in a returning citizen from
Indonesia. In January 2016, Taiwan had its first reported case of the virus. A
24-year-old man from northern Thailand was hospitalised in the country after
travelling there for work on Jan 10.
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