A Health
Ministry employee fumigates a home against the Aedes aegypti mosquito to
prevent the spread of the Zika virus. Picture: AFP.
Authorities in Southeast Asia have reported a
rising number of Zika cases with Thai confirming 349.
BANGKOK - Thailand ruled out on Wednesday
Zika as the cause of two cases of microcephaly but is investigating two other
cases that could be the first linked to Zika in Southeast Asia of the condition
that results in babies being born with small heads.
Microcephaly is a rare birth defect that has
been linked, in Brazil in particular, to the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which
is spreading in Southeast Asia.
Thai health authorities said on Tuesday they
were investigating four suspected cases of Zika-related microcephaly in three
babies and a 36-week old unborn baby.
But on Wednesday, Apichai Mongkol,
director-general of the ministry's Department of Medical Sciences, said Zika
had been ruled out as the cause in two of the cases.
"The test results showed that two did
not have the Zika virus but it is still unclear with the other two because we
found three flavivirus which means it could be dengue, Zika or
meningitis," Apichai told Reuters.
"To be sure which of the three they
contracted we need to investigate further."
There are no specific tests to determine if a
baby will be born with microcephaly but ultrasound scans in the third trimester
of pregnancy can identify the problem, according to the World Health
Organization (WHO).
It was not clear which of the four cases had
been ruled out as having a link to Zika.
Zika has been linked to more than 1,800
confirmed cases of microcephaly in Brazil but there have been no confirmed
cases of Zika causing the condition in Southeast Asia, according to the WHO.
Microcephaly has several potential causes
including various infections, exposure to toxins and malnutrition, the WHO
says.
Health authorities in Southeast Asia have
reported a rising number of Zika cases with Thailand confirming 349 since
January, including 33 pregnant women. Singapore has recorded 393, including 16 pregnant
women.
The Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam have
also reported Zika cases.
Thailand's public health ministry said
earlier the four suspected microcephaly cases were not in Bangkok but it
declined to say where they were found.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority said on
Wednesday officials had confirmed 26 Zika cases in the city this month.
The director-general of the Disease Control
Department, Amnuay Gajeena, said out of 33 cases of pregnant women with Zika,
eight had given birth without complications.
There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika.
An estimated 80 percent of people infected
have no symptoms, making it difficult for pregnant women to know whether they
have been infected.
Zika was first identified in Uganda in 1947
and was first isolated in Asia in the 1960s. It was unknown in the Americas
until 2014.
Reuters
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