介绍:
ZCG: Two new cases of the Zika virus have been reportedly detected in two Australian patients who had recently returned to Sydney from the Caribbean. The news comes just a day after the World Health Organization declared the virus an international emergency.
TY: Currently we know there is no vaccine or medication to stop Zika, and the only way said to avoid catching it is to avoid getting bitten by the mosquitoes carrying the virus. What does that mean for curbing the spread of the virus?
ST: Well, it’s not glamorous stuff, but we’ve had long experience in avoiding mosquito bites globally. I mean, at the individual level, using insect repellent, covering up with appropriate clothing, obviously in homes, installing insect screens. Of course, for public health authorities, the issue is actually removing breeding grounds such as stagnant pools and water in which mosquitoes can breed. We have a long term experience in dealing with mosquitoes and this is essentially the same sort of thing.
TY: Professor Phelan, on the government level, do you think travel alerts are needed now?
AP: Absolutely, it is very important, in communicating any risk like this, that the public is made aware of the risk so they can make changes to their travel. For example, the CDC [Centers for Disease Control], the Canadian Public Health Authority, a range of different public health authorities around the world, have issued alerts to pregnant women to avoid travel to these areas. The WHO, in their - in the Director General’s - declaration, she advised that there should not be any restrictions on travel to, or trade with, countries with Zika virus transmission, but it is really important that the information about where people should or should not be travelling is communicated, even if it doesn’t amount to travel bans.
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