Thailand - Thailand rules out zika link in two microcephaly cases

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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Vietnam - Zika disease becomes endemic in Vietnam: health official

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at the Laboratory of Entomology and Ecology of the Dengue Branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in San Juan, March 6, 2016.

The mosquito-borne Zika disease has become endemic in Vietnam after nine victims tested positive in five of the country’s provinces and cities, according to one health official.

The disease is now considered an epidemic in the Southeast Asian country after nine patients have become infected in five localities, Tran Dac Phu, head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Sunday.

According to a study by authorities in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa, the Zika virus is now carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, whose numbers are higher than those that carry the dengue virus.

The Ministry of Health is expected to make an announcement on the improved protection against the virus for local residents, especially pregnant women, on Monday, Phu said.

“Zika is not a severe disease but can have serious consequences for female patients expecting a baby as the virus can cause microcephaly in infants,” the health official warned.

Zika is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

People with the Zika virus can experience symptoms including mild fever, skin rashes, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise or a headache that normally lasts between two and seven days,

The virus can be transmitted via two species of mosquitoes, the Aedes aegypti and the Aedes albopictus, both infamous for spreading dengue, chikungunya, and other viruses.

The most recent cases in Vietnam were recorded in Ho Chi Minh City with two female patients, one living in District 2 and the other in District 12, both testing positive.

The other victims were diagnosed earlier this year, namely one woman in the southern province of Binh Duong on October 8, one in Nha Trang City in early April, and a male patient in the south-central province of Phu Yen on August 3. 

Four foreigners have also reported their infection during stays in the Southeast Asian country, including an Australian man in March, a Korean woman in May, a German woman and a Taiwanese man, both confirmed in September.

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Vietnam - Vietnam confirms two more Zika patients: Health Ministry

The Ministry warned that new Zika cases could rise in the near future.

Authorities have discovered Zika virus in the blood of a 27-year-old pregnant woman from Binh Duong Province and a 28-year old woman in nearby Ho Chi Minh City, the Ministry of Health announced Saturday.

Both sought treatment for fever, rash and body aches before testing positive for the virus. Neither woman had traveled to affected areas or been in contact with other Zika patients.

Both women are in normal health, the ministry said, adding that authorities have since sprayed the neighborhoods where they reside to prevent a further outbreak. The new discovery brings Vietnam's total number of confirmed Zika cases to five.

The ministry warned that Vietnam's number of new Zika patients may increase in the near future.

In July, Vietnam confirmed its third case of Zika in the southern province of Phu Yen. In April, two Vietnamese women became the first confirmed cases of the virus in the country.

Authorities have discovered a number of foreigners with the Zika virus in recent months.

The Zika virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. The World Health Organization (WHO) said sexual transmission is "relatively common" and has advised pregnant women against travel to areas experiencing ongoing outbreaks.

Nam Phuong 

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Zika virus threatens to spread to northern Vietnam

The virus may inevitably find its way up to mosquito-infested northern provinces and cities.

Health experts are warning that the capital Hanoi and northern Vietnam are at risk from the Zika virus following two new non-travel-related cases in the southern part of the country reported last week by the Ministry of Health.

The new cases, one in Thuan An District in the southern province of Binh Duong and one Ho Chi Minh City's District 9, bring the total number of Zika cases recorded in Vietnam so far to five.

Vietnam’s health sector has taken measures to prevent a potential outbreak, including testing samples and setting up quarantine zones. The sector has been placed on high alert since two Vietnamese women in Nha Trang and Khanh Hoa became the first confirmed cases of the virus in the country in April.

Prof. Nguyen Van Kinh, director of the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, said the possibility of the mosquito-borne virus spreading to the north is very high as the Aedes species of mosquito is very common in most provinces and cities in the region.

Zika is spread mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. Statistics show that 584 communes and wards in Hanoi are home to this type of mosquito, which can spread dengue fever, Zika, yellow fever and other viruses and diseases.

Kinh added that the majority of Vietnamese people have never been exposed to the virus before, meaning they have lower immunity and with 80 percent of cases showing no symptoms.

Tran Dac Phu, head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine, said the cases of the Zika virus in Vietnam have not displayed any significant symptoms. But that poses a major concern as the victims typically do not know they are carrying the virus and there is a high risk of transmission to people exposed to these "silent carriers".

In Hanoi, 55 suspected cases of Zika have been detected and monitored, but test results have all come back negative for the virus, said Hoang Duc Hanh, deputy director of Hanoi's Health Department. “From now until November, the course of dengue fever may become complicated and the Zika virus may also appear in Hanoi,” said Hanh.

According to the local Health Department, there are 50-60 international flights on average with about 7,000 to 8,000 passengers arriving in Hanoi via Noi Bai International Airport every day. In order to prevent and control the virus, the airport has deployed two body-temperature monitors to detect passengers suspected of carrying Zika.

In July, Vietnam confirmed its third case of Zika in the southern province of Phu Yen. In April, two Vietnamese women became the first confirmed cases of the virus in Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Authorities have also discovered a number of foreigners with the Zika virus in recent months.

The Zika virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. Zika virus infections have been linked to the birth defect microcephaly and miscarriages, posing a significant threat to pregnant women, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

There is no vaccine or effective treatment for Zika, and companies and scientists are racing to develop a vaccine. However, that is unlikely to be ready for widespread use for at least two or three years.

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Vietnam - Vietnam to use bacteria-infected mosquitoes to prevent Zika

Nha Trang leaders on Friday said they support a plan to release mosquitoes infected with a strain of bacteria in the resort beach town next year to control dengue and Zika.

The plan was introduced by a Health Ministry working group at a meeting with local leaders, following a successful pilot project carried out in Nha Trang between 2013 and 2015.

Health officials said the infected mosquitoes would be released in four wards of Nha Trang.

The method takes advantage of the naturally occurring strain of bacteria known as Wolbachia, which live in insect cells and are found in 60 percent of common insects.

Infecting mosquitoes with Wolbachia significantly reduced their ability to transmit dengue and the Zika virus, studies have shown.

The bacteria has been released in several countries including Australia, Brazil, and Indonesia as part of strategies to control dengue.

In the pilot project in Vietnam, it helped almost eradicate dengue cases in Tri Nguyen, an island 2 km off Nha Trang coast.

In the meeting Friday, Nguyen Dac Tai, vice chairman of Nha Trang's People's Committee, said local leaders support the plan.

However, he insisted that it be carried out discreetly.

Vietnam has so far reported three Zika patients, including one in Nha Trang.

Hien Luong

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