Zika: What about China and India with 1/3 of the world's population?

[sharon sanders]

China recently approved a 2nd child for each couple. link This action could lead to an impending baby boom. Since denque is endemic, I would like to know what they are doing to prepare for Zika virus.

Ronan do you have any idea about India?

[Pathfinder]

...
Prof Laura Rodrigues, a fellow of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine...

"Wherever there is dengue, there is mosquito, then it will spread and not just in Americas I think there is a very real chance it will spread in Asia.
...

https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/emerging-diseases-other-health-threats-alphabetical-i-thru-z/zika-virus/745445-experts-in-uk-warn-that-zika-likely-to-spread-to-the-same-places-as-dengue-virus

[Ronan Kelly]

The vector is already present throughout India. I suspect if infected travelers return then the virus could become endemic. Looks like there is some government interest, but given poor surveillance in general in India, diagnosing actual cases early on will be a challenge. - Ro


India prepares for Zika virus, health ministry readies testing kits
Priyanka Vora, Hindustan Times, Mumbai | Updated: Jan 28, 2016 09:40 IST

As countries in South and Central America grapple with the Zika virus which has been linked to microcephaly? a birth defect where babies are born with smaller heads which limits brain development ? India is preparing for any intrusion of the virus.

The Union health ministry is in the process of getting testing kits for detecting the virus which is spread by the bite of Aedes Aegypti mosquito that also spreads dengue, a disease that has a high prevalence in India.
?We are in the process of procuring testing kits for detecting Zika virus. The government is also writing to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to know more about the infection and prepare accordingly,? said a senior official from the Zoonosis unit of the union ministry of health and family welfare. Sources said the ministry is also establishing protocols to keep a close watch on any ?sudden rise? in birth defects in any region of the country.
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?We have Aedes Aegypti but for ages we don?t have Yellow fever in India. This virus never got introduced in India and never got established as public health problem even in Asia. Similarly, a similar prediction can be made at this moment about Zika virus,? said Dr Mourya. Maharashtra?s health department is waiting for guidelines from the centre on the disease. ?We discussed Zika virus in our epidemiology meeting. As we have the vector that spreads the virus it is better to be prepared for any sporadic cases,? said a senior state health official.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/india-prepares-for-zika-virus-health-min-readies-testing-kits/story-3IkJewuNCi61Gqtd5GRuRK.html

Zika virus: Here?s everything you need to know
A 1952-53 study in six states showed the presence of antibodies to Zika virus. Experts say that could be because of exposure to similar viruses
Written by Pritha Chatterjee | Updated: January 27, 2016 7:30 pm
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Given this rapid spread of the virus, does India have reason to worry? Zika virus has never been isolated in India. The only time any trace of the virus was recorded in India was in 1952-53. A study titled ?Neutralising antibodies against certain viruses in the sera of the residents of India?, published in a journal called The Journal of Immunology, recorded among other viruses, antibodies to the Zika virus. The study, which went to 38 localities in six states in India, tested 15 vector borne viruses. ?Significant numbers of the sera neutralised Zika,? noted the study authored by ?KC Smithburn of the Rockefeller Foundation in New York, JA Karr, director, virus research centre in Poona and PB Gatne, Medical offer, Bombay State India.?
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The US-based CDC also identifies India as one of the countries where antibodies to Zika virus have been identified only in healthy people. In other words, though people in India have never actually fallen sick from the Zika virus, studies have shown some people have developed immunity to the virus. ?These studies cannot determine where the people were infected or if they were infected with Zika virus because the antibodies may have resulted from infections with other closely related viruses, such as dengue,? the CDC has stated in its report on the Zika virus published in the first week of January.
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- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/exp....Zqf6be0F.dpuf

Zika virus set to hit India?

Jyoti Shelar | Mumbai Mirror | Jan 27, 2016, 11.28 AM IST

HIGHLIGHTS
? Spread by mosquitos, the Zika virus infected 2,500 people in Brazil last year.
? The Zika virus is spread from person to person through the bite of an Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Spread by mosquitos, the Zika virus infected 2,500 people in Brazil last year.
Experts believe it's only a matter of time before India becomes its next target The Zika virus, transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito (the same vector that is known to transmit dengue and chicken guinea) has spread widely in Brazil with more than 2,500 cases reported in 2015. And according to doctors, the mosquite-borne disease should be a cause for concern in India. Healthcare workers in Brazil woke up to the crisis when pregnant women infected with Zika were discovered to have delivered babies with microcephaly, or, an abnormally small head and incomplete brain development. While medical experts were in the middle of establishing more links between the virus and the birth defect, an advisory issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week cautioned pregnant women and those of childbearing age against travelling to Brazil and 13 other countries where cases of Zika virus have surfaced.
Physician Dr Pratit Samdani emphasises on the importance of staying alert. "People travel across countries a lot, both for leisure as well as for work. I wouldn't be sur prised if we suddenly got a case of Zika in India," he says, adding that people planning their summer vacations and holidays to coincide with the upcoming Olympics in Rio De Janeiro should be cautious. The host city has already launched massive drives to target mosquito breeding sites to curb the spread of Zika virus and thus ensure that athletes and visitors remain safe.According to Samdani, with the vector already being present in India, we may not be far from treating a case that could lead to widespread transmission.
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/Zika-virus-set-to-hit-India/articleshow/50727818.cms

Will Indian government wake up to the Zika threat late?
With the Zika virus spreading to over 25 countries now, western and Caribbean countries are taking the threat more seriously.

IndiaToday.in
New Delhi, January 27, 2016 | Edited by Sanjana Agnihotri | UPDATED 14:25 IST
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Researchers say the virus can be spread through intercourse and most likely blood transfusion. But what is the government doing to prevent the coming Zika. Are the people coming in the country being screened at the airport? Or will the authorities wait till Zika becomes the next Ebola?
The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) which was initiated during the Ebola scare should come into action again and screen passengers coming from Zika-affected countries.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/will-indian-government-wake-up-to-the-zika-threat-late/1/580731.html

[Ronan Kelly]

Union Health Minister Shri JP Nadda holds a high level meeting on Zika Virus

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri J P Nadda today held a high level meeting comprising senior officials from the Health Ministry and AIIMS to take stock of the situation in view of the recent cases of Zika Virus being reported from some countries.

?We are closely monitoring the situation and all necessary steps have been initiated to ensure that India is well prepared in case of any eventuality,? the Health Minister said after the meeting.

The Health Minister directed to constitute a technical group with immediate effect which would monitor the situation arising out of spread of Zika Virus in other countries and will advise further on all the necessary steps that need to be taken.

?We are focusing on especially strengthening the surveillance system,? the Health Minister added.

Aedes mosquito which transmits dengue also transmits Zika virus. The Health Minister emphasised that there should be an increased focus on prevention to control the spread of the Aedes mosquito that breeds in clean water.

?Community awareness plays an instrumental role in this regard. There is a need for greater awareness amongst community,? the Health Minister said.

Also present in the meeting were Shri B P Sharma, Secretary (Health), Dr. Jagdish Prasad, DGHS and other senior officer of the Health Ministry.

**


NP/SK
(Release ID :135922)

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx

Centre forms group to monitor spread of Zika virus

JACOB KOSY

Experts say no cause for alarm now.

On the heels of the World Health Organisation's warning on Zika virus, the government said it has constituted a special, technical group to monitor the spread of the virus in other countries.

“We are focusing on especially strengthening the surveillance system,” said J.P. Nadda, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare in a press statement, “We are closely monitoring the situation and all necessary steps have been initiated to ensure that India is well prepared in case of any eventuality,” he said.

The statement was the outcome of a meeting that the Minister convened with senior officials from the Ministry and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Aedes mosquito which transmits dengue also transmits Zika virus. The government note emphasised an increased focus on prevention to control the spread of the Aedes mosquito that breeds in clean water.
...
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...7.ece?w=alauto

[Gert van der Hoek]

...
Prof Laura Rodrigues, a fellow of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine...

"Wherever there is dengue, there is mosquito, then it will spread and not just in Americas I think there is a very real chance it will spread in Asia.
...
https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/...s-dengue-virus

It will spread in Asia? I feel it is widespread in Asia for years already. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia. And India: it has every bacteria and virus you can imagine? Same with China?

This is what can happen if you have a underdiagnosed disease; suddenly it gets more attention, than it is heavily overdiagnosed.

[Pathfinder]

It will spread in Asia? I feel it is widespread in Asia for years already. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia. And India: it has every bacteria and virus you can imagine? Same with China?

This is what can happen if you have a underdiagnosed disease; suddenly it gets more attention, than it is heavily overdiagnosed.

Zika has always been here

September 17, 2016, Saturday Jenne Lajiun

KOTA KINABALU: Many Malaysians, including Sabahans probably think that the Zika is a new virus originating from South America.

However, according to Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Enthomologist Professor Dr Chua Tock Hing, Zika is an old virus that was first discovered in Uganda in 1947, Nigeria in 1952 and later in Peninsular Malaysia in Bentong, Pahang in 1966.

?It was already isolated (the Pahang case) ? so Zika is not something recent. It has been here all the time,? he told the Borneo Post.
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But the fact that the virus has always been here raises another question: Why hasn?t there been any cases or reports of babies with microcephaly in Sabah in the past or even recently?

Dr Chua provided several theories for this.

?It could be that since the virus has been here for so long, the people had built up immunity towards it,? he said.

Another reason for this was simply because of the limited information and records available on babies born with microcephaly in the past.

He added that if the information was available at the State Health Department, he would like to get his hands on them to see if the condition of the babies with microcephaly that were recorded were due to Zika infection.
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http://www.theborneopost.com/2016/09/17/zika-has-always-been-here/