Malaysia reported its first case of a pregnant woman with Zika on Wednesday after its neighbour Singapore has already recorded 275 cases.
Almost four months pregnant, the 27-year-old woman in the southern state of Johor is the third case detected in Malaysia, where fears of a full- blown outbreak emanating from Singapore are mounting. Authorities have warned that the virus is likely to spread further.
While it was not clear how the Malaysian woman contracted Zika, she had visited Singapore six months ago and her husband regularly makes trips to the city-state, reported Malaysia’s health minister S Subramaniam. He added that the authorities have inspected a wide area around her home and other places she had recently visited, and they were being fogged with mosquito-killing chemicals.
Zika, spread mainly by the Aedes mosquito, can result in pregnant women giving birth to babies with microcephaly, a deformation marked by an abnormally small brain and head. It has been detected in 67 countries and territories including hard-hit Brazil.
Last Thursday, Malaysia reported its first case of Zika, where a woman is believed to have caught the virus while in Singapore. On Saturday it reported its first suspected locally transmitted case, where the man had no recent history of overseas travel, was already in fragile health due to other conditions, and subsequently died of heart-related complications.
Malaysia has struggled in recent years to control the spread of dengue fever, which is also borne by the Aedes mosquito. It has stepped up screening of travellers from abroad, particularly Singapore, and is fogging with insecticides. Members of the public have been urged to eliminate mosquito breeding sites such as stagnant water.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)