Ho Chi Minh City declares end of Zika virus at ward level hinh anh 1Doctors give check-up to four-month-old baby suspected of Zika-related microcephaly in Dak Lak (Source: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) – The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has declared the end of Zika virus outbreak at commune-ward level in Phuoc Long Ward, District 9.

However, the outbreak still remained in An Phu Ward in District 2, Hiep Thanh Ward in District 12 and Ward 8 in District 5.

On October 30, the municipal Communist Youth Union launched a campaign “Green Sunday” to clean the environment. The activity contributed to raising public awareness of keeping the clean environment, towards preventing diseases caused by the virus.

Locals have been asked to pay attention to intensifying environmental sanitation activities and killing mosquito larvae in residential areas in order to prevent new outbreaks from occurring.

The Health Ministry is urging people, particularly pregnant women, to take measures to prevent mosquito bites.

Zika is mainly transmitted through the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which also carries dengue fever. The virus has been linked to microcephaly, a condition that causes babies to be born with small heads, and in the vast majority of cases, brain damage.

A total of 11 Zika virus cases have been confirmed in the country so far, including that four-month-old baby in Dak Lak, who was confirmed Vietnam’s first microcephaly case likely related to the Zika virus.

Currently there is no vaccine or specific medicine to treat the disease.-VNA
VNA