The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the Zika virus infections are highly likely to spread in the Asian continent. Rrecent reports have said that hundreds of cases of Zika virus have been reported in Singapore alone and two cases of zika-linked cases have also been reported in Thailand.
So far the mosquito borne virus has been detected in more than 70 countries across the globe and at least 19 in the Asia pacific region. Margaret Chan , the director of WHO said that the experts were still looking for new ways to deal with the deadly virus. A report was released on October 10, 2016 at the annual meeting in Manila.
The WHO has warned that the region has become more vulnerable to new zika virus cases and there are also possibilities of new outbreaks of zika. The report added that there is still an uncertainty of the level of immunity in the regional population. Chan said, “Unfortunately, scientists do not yet have answers to many critical questions [about Zika]”.
However, the zika virus existed in Asia for many decades but the first signs of the presence of the virus came from the travelers and were only confirmed once they returned home. Zika has otherwise mild effects but is more hazardous for pregnant women.
Photo Credits: Viral Bhayani
