Mosquito control measures take place to prevent dengue fever and Zika virus. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Localities across the countries are stepping up precautionary measures to prevent the spread of dengue fever and Zika virus, focusing on eliminating the Aedes Aegypti mosquito which is the main transmitter of both diseases.
In Hanoi, the Department of Health will launch a campaign on environment sanitation and mosquito killing in mid April. It has also signed cooperation agreements with district administrations on simultaneous activities to clean up the environment, as summer is approaching creating favourable conditions for mosquito breeding.
Meanwhile, HCM City, which saw its first case of Zika virus when a 33-year-old pregnant woman tested positive for the virus earlier this month, is continuing with mosquito killing efforts in Districts 1 and 2, where the first Zika patient lives and works, while expanding communication and consultation activities targeting local residents, particularly pregnant women.
Nguyen Tri Dung, Director of HCM City Preventive Medicine Centre, said the centre will submit to the municipal health department a plan to monitor the cases of microcephaly, a condition that causes babies to be born with unusually small heads, to assess the link between it and Zika virus.
In the south central coastal province of Phu Yen, the province’s steering committee for preventing epidemics launched a campaign calling people to take measures against dengue fever and Zika virus.,
All nine districts, towns and cities in the province have signed commitments to organising campaigns to kill mosquitoes and larvae and other preventive measures.
Doctor Nguyen Thi Mong Ngoc, Director of the provincial Department of Health, said during March, the number of dengue fever cases reduced by 50 percent from February to more than 1,000 cases but no casualty has been reported so far.
Phu Yen borders Khanh Hoa province, where one of the two first cases of Zika virus infections was reported in early April.-VNA
