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Source: https://asianews.network/first-cluster-of-zika-virus-cases-identified-in-bangladesh/
First cluster of Zika virus cases identified in Bangladesh
This is a worrying development in a country that is already struggling to contain the Aedes mosquito-borne dengue virus.
The Daily Star
March 4, 2025
DHAKA – Bangladesh has detected a cluster of Zika virus cases for the first time, in a worrying development in a country that is already struggling to contain the Aedes mosquito-borne dengue virus.
Although Zika virus infection is rarely fatal in healthy individuals, it poses a significant threat to pregnant women, as it can cause severe fetal complications such as microcephaly, leading to an increased risk of infant mortality and intellectual disability in the infant.
Not only through mosquitoes, the disease can also spread via sexual intercourse, blood transfusion, mother-to-child transmission, and non-sexual physical contact.
As many as five Zika-positive patients were identified by icddr,b scientists from 152 samples collected from the capital’s Mohakhali area in 2023.
“The presence of Zika virus infection in five of these samples suggests that a larger, nationwide screening is necessary to quantify the true burden of the disease in Bangladesh,” said the article by icddr,b scientists on the study’s findings.
All five patients lived within a one-kilometre radius, and all of them were from the Mohakhali area, said Shafiul Alam, a scientist who was the principal investigator of the project.
They had no history of international travel in the past two years, indicating that the infection occurred locally, he told The Daily Star yesterday...
First cluster of Zika virus cases identified in Bangladesh
This is a worrying development in a country that is already struggling to contain the Aedes mosquito-borne dengue virus.
The Daily Star
March 4, 2025
DHAKA – Bangladesh has detected a cluster of Zika virus cases for the first time, in a worrying development in a country that is already struggling to contain the Aedes mosquito-borne dengue virus.
Although Zika virus infection is rarely fatal in healthy individuals, it poses a significant threat to pregnant women, as it can cause severe fetal complications such as microcephaly, leading to an increased risk of infant mortality and intellectual disability in the infant.
Not only through mosquitoes, the disease can also spread via sexual intercourse, blood transfusion, mother-to-child transmission, and non-sexual physical contact.
As many as five Zika-positive patients were identified by icddr,b scientists from 152 samples collected from the capital’s Mohakhali area in 2023.
“The presence of Zika virus infection in five of these samples suggests that a larger, nationwide screening is necessary to quantify the true burden of the disease in Bangladesh,” said the article by icddr,b scientists on the study’s findings.
All five patients lived within a one-kilometre radius, and all of them were from the Mohakhali area, said Shafiul Alam, a scientist who was the principal investigator of the project.
They had no history of international travel in the past two years, indicating that the infection occurred locally, he told The Daily Star yesterday...