Zika Virus in Thailand but Not Epidemic, Health Officials Assure

While a virus blamed for brain damage in babies spreads through the Americas and has reached Europe, health officials today said it is not spreading in Thailand.

Global health officials today the rapid spread of the Zika virus could make for a global pandemic, yet Thailand’s top health official today urged the public not to worry because the disease has not reached epidemic level in Thailand.

Only pregnant women need be concerned about the virus, Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said, because it is not fatal.

The virus, first discovered in Thailand in 2012, infects about 5 patients each year. There’s only been one known case so far this year. On Jan. 10, Taiwan announced it found the virus in a 24-year-old Thai man traveling from northern Thailand.

The Department of Disease Control said Zika fever can be found throughout Thailand. Those infected suffer symptoms similar to a mild case of dengue fever and usually recover in two to seven days. Officials said they are taking unspecified mosquito abatement measures.

Full Story – Khaosod English

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