Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Zika infection case discovered in Japan on September 12 is not Vietnamese, confirmed the Health Ministry’s Department of Preventive Medicine on September 15.
The victim is a German living in district 2, Ho Chi Minh City, who has fully recovered and returned to Vietnam.
The ministry directed local health agencies, municipal and local authorities to take precautionary measures nationwide and spread the campaign “People get rid of mosquitoes, larvae” in the fight against dengue and Zika.
It also requested keeping close watch over passengers travelling from infected areas, taking samples at medical stations to promptly discover infections, regularly updating the public about the epidemics via the mass media, and working closely with the World Health Organisation to acquire relevant information.
The department warned that new Zika cases are probably discovered in the foreseeable future.
The Zika virus is transmitted to humans primarily through Aedes aegypty mosquito bites and sexual intercourse.
The symptoms of Zika infection include fever, conjunctivitis, headaches and muscle pains. Zika infection during pregnancy may lead to microcephaly in children, which is responsible for incomplete brain development and an unusually small head.
A vaccine for the Zika virus has yet to be discovered.-VNA
