A staff is spraying sterilised chemicals in Malaysia. (Source: EPA/VNA)
Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia’s Institute for Medical Research ( IMR ) has been carrying out tests to determine the type of Zika virus on two new patients.
Malaysian Minister of Health S. Subramaniam said on September 15 a pregnant woman, 35, in Miri city, Sarawak state’s capital city, and her elder sister, 39, in Setapak area, Kuala Lumpur, were the fifth and sixth Zika virus patients in the country.
Minister Subramaniam said that the pregnant woman went to Singapore in July, but it has been too long a time for an infection, leading to suspicion that Zika virus may exist in the area.
According to Miri city’s health office, Aedes mosquitoes, which are the carrier of the Zika virus, were found in many places in the area where the pregnant woman lives.
At the same time, the minister did not exclude the possibility that it can take more time for Zika virus to reveal itself on a pregnant woman, which is a concern for Malaysian health authorities.
The IMR is trying to determine if the virus found in the woman is the same type with Zika virus in Tahiti or another type of the virus.
On August 26, the pregnant woman’s sister visited her in Miri and returned to Kuala Lumpur and this might explain the spread of the virus.
Malaysia confirmed the first Zika-infected case on September 1. The patient was a 58-year-old woman in Klang, Selangor State who was reported to get infected with the virus after returning from Singapore.
According to the World Health Organisation, more than 1.5 million people have contracted Zika virus so far.-VNA
The Ministry of Health has urged localities to take drastic prevention measures in response to an increase of Zika infections in Southeast Asian countries.
Malaysia has confirmed two other cases inflected with Zika virus, raising the total number of infections in the country to six, the Health Ministry reported on September 13.
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A staff is spraying sterilised chemicals in Malaysia. (Source: EPA/VNA)
