Zika virus phased out, says Health

By Lanuola Tusani Tupufia 03 September 2016, 12:00AM

There were less than 100 suspected cases of Zika found in Samoa and most of which were clinically diagnosed with the symptoms presented by patients.

Director General of Health, Leausa Dr. Take Naseri said while none of the cases was death- related the virus has been phased out. 

“We hardly get any reported cases (of zika),” he said. 

“I think it has phased out and we didn’t get anywhere near 800 cases. 

We had less than a hundred and none was death-related.”

The zika outbreak late last year caused a lot of concern especially for the tourism industry. In American Samoa there were more than 400 suspected cases of Zika in March. 

Their 91 blood samples in American Samoa that were sent off island to test for mosquito-borne viruses including Zika, dengue fever and chikungunya which have similar symptoms. 

From the samples 14 were confirmed as Zika including those of six pregnant women in the territory.

The World Health Organisation declared Zika a global health emergency on February 1, saying new research has strengthened the link between the Zika virus and foetal abnormalities, while sexual transmission of the virus was more common than previously thought.

This year, Zika has been detected in five Pacific Island countries.

A meeting of the W.H.O.'s Zika Emergency Committee in Geneva earlier in March concluded that the Zika virus affects the brain of a developing foetus and can also cause neurological disorders.

By Lanuola Tusani Tupufia 03 September 2016, 12:00AM

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