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News > World

Zika Virus Spreads to Laos

  • An aedes aegypti mosquitoes is seen in The Gorgas Memorial institute for Health Studies laboratory as they conduct a research on preventing the spread of the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases in Panama City Feb. 4, 2016.

    An aedes aegypti mosquitoes is seen in The Gorgas Memorial institute for Health Studies laboratory as they conduct a research on preventing the spread of the Zika virus and other mosquito-borne diseases in Panama City Feb. 4, 2016. | Photo: Reuters

Published 6 March 2016
Opinion

The rural nation is the latest country in Asia to report a local transmission of the virus. 

Laos has become the latest country to report a local transmission of Zika virus, according to the World Health Organization, as fears mount over the mosquito-borne illness that has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly and a rare neurological disorder.

Asia has seen only a sprinkling of cases of the virus, but a surge in Latin America this year, and its suspected links to microcephaly, pushed the U.N. health agency to declare Zika a global health emergency.

Laos on Saturday officially joined a total of 41 countries that have reported local transmissions of the virus since the beginning the year, a WHO report said.

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Health authorities in Laos, a rural country with minimal infrastructure, were not available to comment.

Neighbouring Thailand reported one case last month of a 22-year-old who contracted the illness domestically and has since recovered.

Thailand's health ministry urged the public not to panic, saying there have been an average of five cases per year since 2012 with no outbreaks.

As teleSUR reported earlier on Sunday, a U.S. citizen recently contracted the virus in the Philippines, the country's first registered case since 2012.

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