Vietnam health officials warn of Zika, epidemics during Lunar New Year fest

The Ministry of Health organized an online conference to issue a warning about a potential pandemic during the Tet holiday.

The conference was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of National Defense, and international organizations.

Cautions as well as methods of prevention for the possible breakout of the mosquito-borne Zika virus were given during the meeting.

Four patients suffering severe cases of Streptococcus suis, a disease capable of transmitting to humans from pigs, have been admitted to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases since January 1, said Nguyen Trung Cap, a doctor from the infirmary.

The patients were infected with the illness after eating food made from pig products, according to the doctor.

Nguyen Van Kinh, director of the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, expressed his concern during the meeting over the probable spread of Streptococcus suis during the Lunar New Year holiday.

“People in northern Vietnam have the habit of cooking and eating food made from pig parts, especially its blood, as they think the pork is clean and free of disease,” Kinh explained.

However, the Streptococcus suis bacteria can be present in every swine, he added.

The director also warned that pneumonia and bronchitis, both caused by the Hantavirus, could turn into epidemics as several people have been diagnosed with the diseases recently.

People can be also susceptible to many types of avian influenza during the holiday as chickens of unknown origin are still being smuggled into Vietnam.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien warned of the potential for disease, adding that influenza patients have always been recorded during previous Tet holidays.

Regarding the diseases caused by the Zika virus, Kinh said that any effort to prevent its spread could face several difficulties as patients can be contagious during the incubation period of 12 days.

In addition, about 80 percent of the people affected by the virus do not show any symptoms, he added.

The primary challenge for Vietnam is to figure out a way to swiftly identify if a person is affected by the virus, in order to provide the patient with prompt treatment and necessary isolation, said Kato, a representative from the Vietnamese office of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City is expected to receive a new test sample on Wednesday that can spot patients of the disease within six to eight hours, according to Phan Trong Lan, head of the institute.

He said that employees from the institute will learn from the experience of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as establishing 10 locations in Ho Chi Minh City and 20 others in Hanoi for the diagnosis of the ailment.

Zika is a disease caused by the Zika virus that is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected mosquito of the Aedes species, with common symptoms being fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes), according to the CDC.

The virus, linked to severe birth defects in thousands of babies in Brazil, is spreading rapidly in the Americas, and WHO officials on Tuesday expressed concern that it could hit Africa and Asia as well,Reuters reported.