Health Ministry sets up zika epidemic prevention teams

The teams will coordinate with Provincial People’s Committees, Departments of Health and relevant agencies to carry out Zika virus prevention activities.

The Ministry of Health will increase supervisions and collect samples. It will focus on high-risk areas and increase inspection of borders, health care centers and the community. 

According to the WHO, 59 countries and territories have recorded Zika cases. Some foreigners, after leaving several Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, were also reported to have tested positive for Zika. 

Zika is mainly transmitted through the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which also carries dengue fever. 

The virus has been linked to microcephaly, a condition that causes babies to be born with unusually small heads and, in the vast majority of cases, brain damage. 

Currently there is no vaccine or specific medicine to treat the disease.