Malaysia detects first locally-transmitted Zika case

Given that the virus has been detected in this country, more Zika cases are expected if no precaution measures are taken by the community and the people, said the ministry.

The danger of mosquito-borne Zika infection for pregnant American women became more imminent last month, with two neighborhoods in the Miami area reporting cases of locally acquired infection.

The research team analyzed airline passenger traffic data from 689 cities with commercial airports in the Americas.

Although Zika was first identified in 1947, the virus wasn’t considered a major health threat until a major outbreak in Brazil past year revealed that Zika can lead to severe birth defects when pregnant women are infected.

“Zika is present in our country”.

The Zika outbreak began in Brazil a year ago, but now more than 60 countries and territories have continuing transmission including, most recently, Singapore.

At a news conference in Geneva, the head of WHO’s health emergency programme, Peter Salama, said: “We don’t have any confirmed cases of Zika amongst travellers or amongst indeed athletes”.

“There is a potential new cluster involving one previously reported case and a new case today.”, the statement said.

The mosquitoes were trapped in the same area where several cases of human infection have occurred, officials said.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian health ministry says it has detected the first case of a locally transmitted Zika infection in a 61-year-old man in the state of Sabah.

Scientists say Zika should now be considered a risk factor for hearing loss, and children who were exposed during pregnancy but have normal hearing at birth should be screened regularly for delayed or progressive hearing loss.

The number of Zika cases in Singapore exceeded 200.

One of the most fundamental questions in this current epidemic is why countries such as Brazil, the epicenter of the current epidemic, have reported almost 2,000 cases of microcephaly and other brain abnormalities, while countries such as Colombia, where more than 18,000 pregnant women have been infected since last fall, have reported fewer than three dozen cases.

Malaysia’s health system has already been stretched thin by dengue fever, which is also spread by the Aedes mosquito and can be fatal.

“Zika will spread even faster in Malaysia than Singapore because our Aedes volume is so much higher and the breeding grounds are enormous”, he said.

An infection leads to only mild symptoms, such as a rash and aches, in most people.