The municipal health sector held a meeting on March 31 to mobilise all available resources as precautions for a Zika outbreak, after the Health Ministry raised the Zika virus emergency level to 2.
Vice Director of the health department Hoang Duc Hanh said alarm bells are increasing, becauce the city receives approximately 8,000 foreigners through Noi Bai International Airport on a daily basis.
The Health Department asked 62 local general hospitals to keep a close watch on their patients.
Communities across the city must monitor residents returning from overseas, especially Zika-hit countries, he said.
According to the department, at present Hanoi is operating 65 mobile disease-prevention teams and stockpiling a large amount of relevant chemicals and medical equipment.
At the meeting, Director of the municipal Department of Health Nguyen Khac Hien said a promotion campaign will be implemented at border checkpoints so visitors know where to go if they have any symptoms of Zika.
In addition, local residents are advised to protect themselves and their families using mosquito repellent, and securely cover all containers of water to prevent mosquitoes from entering them and laying eggs.
The city now has no cases of Zika virus. Six suspected dengue-fever samples were tested, producing negative results.
According to the WHO, 59 countries and territories have recorded Zika cases. Some foreigners, after leaving several Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, were also reported to have tested positive for Zika.
Zika is mainly transmitted through the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which also carries dengue fever. The virus has been linked to microcephaly, a condition that causes babies to be born with unusually small heads and, in the vast majority of cases, brain damage. Currently, there is no vaccine or specific medicine to treat the disease.
Vice Director of the health department Hoang Duc Hanh said alarm bells are increasing, becauce the city receives approximately 8,000 foreigners through Noi Bai International Airport on a daily basis.
The Health Department asked 62 local general hospitals to keep a close watch on their patients.
Communities across the city must monitor residents returning from overseas, especially Zika-hit countries, he said.
Hanoi will carry out a promotion campaign at border checkpoints so visitors know where to go if they have any symptoms of Zika.
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At the meeting, Director of the municipal Department of Health Nguyen Khac Hien said a promotion campaign will be implemented at border checkpoints so visitors know where to go if they have any symptoms of Zika.
In addition, local residents are advised to protect themselves and their families using mosquito repellent, and securely cover all containers of water to prevent mosquitoes from entering them and laying eggs.
The city now has no cases of Zika virus. Six suspected dengue-fever samples were tested, producing negative results.
According to the WHO, 59 countries and territories have recorded Zika cases. Some foreigners, after leaving several Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, were also reported to have tested positive for Zika.
Zika is mainly transmitted through the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which also carries dengue fever. The virus has been linked to microcephaly, a condition that causes babies to be born with unusually small heads and, in the vast majority of cases, brain damage. Currently, there is no vaccine or specific medicine to treat the disease.
