(Eagle News) — A 45 year old woman from Iloilo City has been tested positive of Zika virus, becoming what could be the first locally transmitted case of the dreaded mosquito-borne disease, the Department of Health said.
Undersecretary Gerardo Bayugo confirmed on Monday (Sept. 5) that the married Filipina had no record of travel to countries where the virus has been detected.
But Bayugo clarified that there is still no confirmation of local transmission of the virus in the Philippines.
“As far as what we (DOH) have now, wala pa kaming evidence na merong transmission locally of this case that has been surfacing,” Bayugo told reporters in a media briefing at the Philippine Information Agency on Monday.
Later in the afternoon, however, Health Undersecretary Eric Tayag said that the case was most probably locally transmitted.
The victim’s spouse will also be tested since the virus can be transmitted through sexual contact.
A team of doctors would also be sent in Iloilo to check if there are other Zika cases.
Tayag said it was likely that there are other Zika cases since the vector mosquito that is carrying the Zika virus — the Aedes aegypti mosquito — is also present here in the Philippines.
But the advantage of the Philippines is that there have been measures instituted by the government against dengue which would also affect, and might limit transmission of Zika.
Tayag also explained that Zika is a self-limiting disease, and that the only danger being monitored here is its transmission from mother-to-child.
The other five Zika cases have been detected since 2012, but did not become an outbreak.
