Thailand has effective measures to control Zika virus

BANGKOK, February 3 (TNA) - The Ministry of Public Health advises people not to be panic about the Zika virus, as Thailand has effective measures to control the disease well. Dr. Amnuay Gajeena, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Disease Control, told journalists on February 2 that the disease is not new as it was first reported in Thailand in 1962 and only a few Zika patients have been reported in the country annually with no spread, thanks to effective surveillance by Thai health authorities. Dr. Amnuay stressed that Zika patients can recover by themselves, identifying people being at risk of the Zika virus as pregnant women, those found to have a fever and swollen rashes, infants with shrunken heads and patients with peripheral neuropathies. Dr. Amnuay noted that the Zika disease is now spreading in Brazil and countries in Central America and Caribbean. Dr. Prasert Thongcharoen, a Thai health expert and virologist, acknowledged that the Zika disease exists worldwide and its epidemic in Brazil and Central American countries now have prompted the international community to actively try to prevent more infections. Meanwhile, Air Vice Marshal Santi Srisermphoke, Director of Bhumibol Hospital on the outskirts of Bangkok, reported that a man aged 20 was admitted with the Zika disease on January 24, 2016 but he has recovered and left the hospital. (TNA)