Records show that there is no zika virus in Vanuatu, says George Worwor, the Ministry of Health officer in charge of disease surveillance.
However, he confirmed that there was one imported case of the zika virus recorded in the country last year before Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Pam hit the country.
“This year there is no zika virus recorded by the Health Ministry’s surveillance system set up in the hospitals, health centres, and clinics to monitor for diseases,” he added.
“Once suspected cases are detected, the surveillance system is activated further and investigation is carried out to determine if it is zica virus, malaria or other disease,” Worwor explained.
When asked if people should be concerned about the virus entering the country, Worwor said even though no cases of the virus has been detected, its intrusion into Vanuatu is a concern because the virus can reappear in cause other health cases.
He said health practitioners also should be concerned and be on guard against any sign of its entry into the country.
Zika is a disease caused by zika virus that is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. The most common symptoms of zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week.
Other common symptoms include muscle pain and headache. The incubation period (the time from exposure to symptoms) for zika virus disease is not known, but is likely to be a few days to a week.)
Since the worldwide concern started growing about virus, Pacific island countries have been on the alert for the disease with Tonga confirming one suspected zika virus case in the country and America Samoa expressing concern over lack of awareness being raised about suspected zika cases in American Samoa and its possible link to sever birth defects.
Fiji’s Health Ministry has revealed the risk of zika virus entering Fiji is high and it is upscaling its surveillance system to compliment the system in place.