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The Philippines is one of five countries listed by the World Health Organization as having possible endemic transmission or evidence of local mosquito-borne Zika infections in 2016, but without reporting an outbreak in either 2015 or 2016.
The others are Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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| Credit WHO Zika Sitrep |
This isn't to say they haven't seen scattered cases (see here and here), just not enough to warrant moving them into the top tier of (currently 56) countries reporting ongoing transmission in 2016.
Nearly 2 weeks ago, in Philippines Confirms 2 Additional Local Zika Cases, we looked at a family cluster in Iloilo City. While a concern, all three cases were from the same household.
A week later 6 more cases were announced; 4 from Iloilo City; 1 each from Cebu City and Muntinlupa City.
Today the Philippine DOH held a press conference to announce 3 more cases (2 from Iloilo City, 1 from nearby Oton). We also learn that one of the cases from last week - a 19 y.o. woman - is 19 weeks pregnant with her first child.
This from the Philippine DOH.
The Department of Health (DOH) adds 3 new Zika cases to the list of confirmed cases in the country for 2016. There now a total of 12 cases. All were reported in September after tests conducted at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM)."Of these 12 cases, 8 were females while age ranged from 9 years to 55 years. Ten of these cases were from Region VI (Western Visayas) and one each from Region VII (Central Visayas) and NCR. The previously reported case from Laguna (CALABARZON) was traced to Muntinlupa upon verification. Among cases from Region VI, 9 were from Iloilo City and 1 from Oton, just a few kilometers outside Iloilo City." Health Secretary Paulyn Jean B. Rosell-Ubial explained.These cases did not have history of travel to an affected country a month prior to the onset of their illness. All of these confirmed cases presented with skin rashes with any one of the following: fever, muscle or joint pains, conjunctivitis without eye discharge. All have recovered from their mild illness.The health chief added that the 22-year-old confirmed case from Cebu is also 19 weeks pregnant with her first child. Initial ultrasound did not detect any fetal abnormalities. She will be monitored regularly during the entire period of the pregnancy.
DOH quick response teams were sent to affected areas to conduct case investigations and to recommend specific measures to prevent further spread. Iloilo city is carrying out indoor residual spraying coupled with fogging in affected and high risk areas to reduce adult mosquito density. This were done only after search and destroy were done in the same areas in order to eliminate mosquito breeding sites. All cases were advised to avoid mosquito bites by applying insect repellent over exposed areas at least a week after onset of their illness.
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