HCM City declares end of Zika virus at ward level

Director of the municipal Preventive Health Centre Nguyen Tri Dung said on April 20 that after announcing the Zika outbreak at Thanh My Loi Ward in District 2, the health department implemented measures to prevent the spread of the disease.

In addition to spraying anti-mosquito chemicals at the working and living places of the patient, the centre mobilised locals to kill mosquito larvae and increased examination and detection of new cases at 30 hospitals while coordinating with relevant departments and sectors to boost awareness of Zika virus and dengue fever prevention, he said.

After 23 days of inspections, HCM City detected no new cases, he said.

The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee announced the Zika virus outbreak at the commune and ward levels, after a case was reported in the locality on April 5.

At Thanh My Loi ward in District 2 a 33-year-old pregnant woman tested positive for the virus after being hospitalised on March 29.

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.

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