Zika presence set to rise in Asia-Pacific
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ZIKA infections are expected to continue rising in the Asia-Pacific region, where authorities are increasing surveillance, preparing responses to complications and collaborating on information about the disease, the World Health Organization said yesterday.
Complicating the fight against the virus, spread by mosquitoes, was the lack of a “foolproof” approach to mosquito control, as shown by decades of efforts to contain dengue virus, WHO Director General Margaret Chan said in her address to a Western Pacific regional meeting of the world health body.
She said other questions included why the first signs of the virus’s existence in the Asia-Pacific region came from travelers whose infections were confirmed once they had returned home.
Zika symptoms were mild and no deaths had been reported globally, said Dr. Li Ailan, director for health security and emergencies at WHO’s Western Pacific regional office. But she said based on WHO’s risk assessment, Zika viral infection would continue to spread in the region.
The complications include like microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome.
The Western Pacific region was the world’s second most Zika-affected region, Li said. Nineteen of its 27 countries had reported Zika cases since 2007 and 13 of them this year.
Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO’s Western Pacific regional head, said a long-term response to the disease was among the topics to be discussed at the five-day conference.
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