Cambodia at ‘high’ risk of Zika outbreak in 2017
Amid reports of the emergence of the Zika virus in Myanmar and the discovery of the first birth defect believed linked to the virus in Vietnam, two researchers with Phnom Penh’s Pasteur Institute have concluded that Cambodia is at high risk of its own Zika outbreak in 2017. The findings appeared to be corroborated by a recent WHO risk assessment for the region, which noted the possibility of “new outbreaks”. The Kingdom saw seven Zika cases between 2007 and 2010, but no recent cases have been reported despite outbreaks in Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore, and reported cases in other Southeast Asian nations. However, in a brief analysis on the Zika virus in Cambodia recently posted on the Pasteur Institute’s website, Dr Didier Fontenille and Dr Philippe Dussart concluded that next year could be ripe for an outbreak in Cambodia. “The risk of Zika is negligible at the moment in Cambodia, but not in neighbouring countries,” the short analysis reads. “However, the risk of outbreak in Cambodia in 2017 appears high.”
