Zika virus infection count in HCM City reaches 17
Seventeen people have tested positive for the Zika virus in HCM City as of October 31, according to the city-based Pasteur Institute. They were detected through an epidemic surveillance system the local Department of Health has put in place. Trần Đắc Phu, head of the Ministry of Health’s Preventive Health Department, said it is impossible to prevent the spread of Zika because the city has a population of more than 12 million. Besides, the virus is transmitted by the same aedes species of mosquito which also spreads dengue, which is now in its peak season in the city, he said during a discussion on October 31 between the Preventive Health Department and the city’s health department to seek measures to combat the disease. People’s awareness of preventive methods, including killing of mosquitoes and larvae, remains low, he said. On Sunday the Preventive Health Department confirmed the country’s first case of microcephaly, or abnormal smallness of the head, in a four-moth-old child, saying it is likely related to Zika.
