VietNamNet Bridge – The Zika virus has been discovered in a small sampling of Aedes mosquitos in the costal city of Nha Trang, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology reported.

The Aedes mosquito. -- Photo Imperial.co.uk

The recent discovery of some cases of local Zika virus transmition occurred as local authorities were monitoring the spread of the mosquito-borne Dengue Fever virus.

The project to wipe out Dengue in Viet Nam collected 23,680 samples of the Aedes female mosquito from March 2015 to May 2016.   

The results showed that 56 samples of mosquitos tested positive for Zika (accouting for 0.24 per cent of the total samples), 26 samples were positive for the Dengue virus (0.12 per cent), and no sample was found to be positive for the Chikungunya virus.

The project to wipe out dengue in Viet Nam is being carried out jointly by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Nha Trang’s Pasteur Institute and the Khanh Hoa Province health department.

The Ministry of Health has warned residents across the country to implement mosquitoe-killing and prevention measures to avoid the spread of Zika and Dengue.

So far nine cases of Zika virus have been found in Viet Nam - four in HCM City, one each in Nha Trang and the provinces of Phu Yen, Binh Thuan, Binh Duong and Tra Vinh.  Zika is mostly transmitted by the Aedes mosquito but can also be spread though sexual relations.

VNS