#11,729
We've updates from two MOH's, and a media report on new detections of Zika virus in Thailand's capital Bangkok.
First stop though, is Singapore where, in just over 2 weeks the case count has jumped to 329 in 7 clusters, including 8 pregnant women.
Joint MOH-NEA statement (11 Sep 2016)
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Joint MOH-NEA statement (11 September)
1. As of 12pm, 11 September, MOH has confirmed 11 new cases of locally transmitted Zika virus infection in Singapore. Of these, one case is linked to the Elite Terrace cluster. The other ten cases have no known links to any existing cluster.
2. To date, there are a total of 329 cases of locally transmitted Zika virus infection in Singapore, with seven clusters. Eight pregnant women have been confirmed to have Zika. Their doctors are following up closely with them to provide support and counselling.
3. From Monday 12 September 2016, NEA and MOH will be providing daily updates via NEA’s website (www.nea.gov.sg/zika-clusters) in place of daily media statements. Members of the public may refer to the website for updated information on the number of reported Zika cases and ongoing clusters.
(Continue . . .)
Meanwhile, in adjacent Malaysia - which has reported 3 local cases so far - the Director General for Health has released a detailed response plan for Zika.
Please refer to the Circular Letter of the Director General of Health dated 11 September 2016 No. Reference: KKM.600-29 / 4/142 (38) which is attached below as a guideline for monitoring and management of Zika virus infection. For more specific information, please refer to appendix lists the following:Appendix 1: Definition of Zika virus infection cases.Appendix 2A1, 2A2, 2A3 and 2B: Flowchart Zika virus detection tests.Annex 3 and 4: Form of notification Zika virus infection and microcephaly.Appendix 5: Carta flow Zika disease notificationAppendix 6: Free Health Care OutpatientAnnex 10: List of Research Institute, Hospital, Public Health Laboratory / Private services with Real Time PCR.
And lastly, a report which surfaced yesterday from Thailand that local authorities have identified 21 Zika cases in Bangkok, including one pregnant woman.
We looked at the history of Zika in Thailand earlier this year (see Thailand Reports `1st' Domestic Case Of Zika), along with evidence the virus has been present in Thailand for a good many years.
The World Health Organization ranks countries according to their recent Zika reporting - of which we've not heard much out of Thailand this year - although low level transmission has been assumed.
They currently place Thailand in Category 2: Countries with possible endemic transmission or evidence of local mosquito-borne Zika infections in 2016.
With 21 cases now reported in the Capital, we could see them them move up the list in the next few weeks. Today's report from The Nation alludes to considerably more cases in Thailand this year than has previously been disclosed, citing:
Suwannachai said that 30 pregnant women with Zika were being monitored in Thailand. So far, six of the women had given birth without complications or any birth defects.
Sixteen out of Thailand’s 76 provinces have confirmed cases of Zika since January this year, according to the health ministry, but no birth defects or deaths have been reported.
Follow the link to read the report in its entirety.
(Continue . . )Twenty-one new cases of locally-transmitted Zika virus have been confirmed in central Bangkok, including a pregnant woman who later gave birth with no complications, Thailand's public health ministry said on Sunday.Residents in the Thai capital were urged not to be alarmed after the cases were confirmed in the Sathorn area of the city, an up-market neighbourhood popular with the city’s expatriate community and part of the capital’s business district.
"Of the 21 cases confirmed in the Sathorn area there was one pregnant woman who recovered and gave birth successfully," Ministry of Public Health spokesman Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai told Reuters by telephone.
