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Tanzania dismisses reported Zika virus outbreak

Xinhua, December 17, 2016 Adjust font size:

Tanzania health authorities on Friday allayed fears of the reported Zika virus detection saying the World Health Organisation (WHO) was yet to confirm the reports.

Ummy Mwalimu, the Minister for Health, said any outbreak of a disease with international concern had to be verified and announced by the global health agency.

The Zika virus, which was isolated from monkeys in Uganda about 70 years ago, has prompted worldwide concern after it began spreading very fast in the Americas early this year.

Zika viruses are believed to cause serious damage to a foetus such that babies are born with brain damage and head deformity.

"No Zika virus has been verified in the country so far. The Zika virus is an international reportable disease of which any discerned condition must be verified by the WHO in collaboration with the office of the Chief Government Medical Officer in the respective country," she said.

The minister was responding to media reports quoting the National Institute of Medical Research Director General, Mwele Malecela, who had announced that the Zika virus had been detected in Morogoro and Geita regions, sending shockwaves among Tanzanians.

Malecela was quoted as saying that the government was working out strategies to make sure that all pregnant mothers were protected from the Zika virus-carrying mosquitoes. Endit