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Asia on Zika alert as health officials set up preventive measures

THE STRAIT TIMES

THE STRAIT TIMES

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(THESTRAITTIMES)AsiahasgoneonZikaalertasIndonesia,Singapore,thePhilippinesandHongKongsteppeduptheirdefencesagainstthemosquito-bornevirus,whichhasspreadextensivelyintheAmericas,whereuptofourmillioncasesareexpectedthisyear.

HealthofficialsinIndonesia,whereonecaseofZikawasdetectedlastyearinJambi,arere-examiningsamplesofthevirusinabidtostaveoffanoutbreakasthecountryheadsintotherainyseason.

"WearerampingupresearchnotjustonZika,butalsoonallothervirusesinthemosquitovectorsuchasdengueandchikungunya...anddoingchecksoncarriersacrosstheprovincesgradually-thisisrelatedtoentomology,"saidDrOscarPrimadi,headoftheHealthMinistry'scommunicationsandhealthservicesbureau.

Singapore'sHealthMinistryhasalerteddoctorstobeonthelookoutforpotentialcarriers,whiletheNationalEnvironmentAgencywillraisevectorcontrolsshouldacasebedetected,topreventitstransmission.

ResidentswaitingoutsidewhiletheirhomeswerefumigatedaspartofacampaignagainsttheZikavirusandothermosquito-bornediseasesontheoutskirtsofLimainPeruonMonday.WHOchiefMargaretChannotedthatitwas"stronglysuspectedbutno

ThePhilippineauthoritiesaredoingthesameand,likeJapan,thePhilippineshasadvisedwomenwhoarepregnantorplanningtoconceivetoavoidcountriesontheZikawatchlist.ItsDepartmentofHealthhasalsoordered1,000testkitsanddesignatedsixgovernmenthospitalsastestingfacilitiesforthevirus.

Thebiggerdanger

PeopleshouldnotbeoverlyworriedaboutZikabecausedengueisactuallymoredangerousandithasproventousthatitisdeadly.

''DROSCARPRIMADIofIndonesia'sHealthMinistry

HongKonghasbarredpeoplewhohavereturnedfromaffectedcountriesfromdonatingblood,andadvisedtheuseofcondomsasthevirushasa28-dayincubationperiod.

Asiantravellershavealsobeenurgedtoavoidaffectedareas.

ThePhilippines,Cambodia,IndonesiaandMalaysiahaveeachreportedonecaseofZika-relatedinfectionsince2010.

Thailandistheworst-hitcountryinSouth-eastAsia,withanaverageoffivecasesayearsince2012.Thereweretwoconfirmedcasesthisyear-oneinvolvedayoungmanwhowasinfectedonJan24buthassincerecovered.

WhileithasyettobeprovendefinitivelythattheZikavirusislinkedtoasurgeincasesofmicrocephaly-adevastatingconditioninwhichababyisbornwithanabnormallysmallheadandbrain-theWorldHealthOrganisationhaswarnedthatacausalrelationshipwas"stronglysuspected".

ZikaisalsosuspectedoflinkstoaneurologicaldisordercalledGuillain-Barresyndrome,adisorderthatcausestheimmunesystemtoattackthenervoussystem.

ThereisnocurefortheZikavirusandexpertssayitmaytakemorethanayearbeforeavaccineisavailable.

DrOscaryesterdayappealedforcalmamidtheuncertaintyoftheoutbreakandaskedIndonesianstodotheirpartbypreventingmosquitoesfrombreeding,whetherintheirhomesorattheirworkplaces.

"PeopleshouldnotbeoverlyworriedaboutZikabecausedengueisactuallymoredangerousandithasproventousthatitisdeadly,"headded.