The Public Health Ministry has played down fears of a Zika virus outbreak in Thailand, saying the disease is already common in the country.
Opart Karnkawinpong, deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department, insisted Sunday the mosquito-borne Zika virus has become widespread since the infection was first recorded in Thailand in 2012. He asked the public not to panic as Zika was not deadly or severely contagious.
Dr Opart's comment came after 22 new cases of Zika, including a pregnant woman, were reported in Sathon district this week. The woman is believed to have contracted the virus from someone who had recently travelled oversees. Another 30 pregnant women nationwide have been infected with the virus.
Dr Opart said all pregnant women and their unborn babies were being closely monitored by medical teams and public health officials. Of them, six have given birth to healthy babies.
Methipoj Chatametheekul, director of City Hall's Communicable Disease Control Division, said the symptoms of the 22 Zika patients were not severe. They will be quarantined for the next 30 days.
A check-up will be offered to pregnant women in Sathon district while more than 30 people in the district exposed to the disease through the patients must undergo blood tests.
City Hall also declared Sathon district and adjoining areas as Zika-precaution zones. If no new infections are reported in the areas within a month, the precaution will be lifted, Mr Methipoj added.
Also on Sunday, public health permanent secretary Sophon Mekthon claimed Zika was not a new disease, despite recent publicity, as it is found in Thailand and other Asean countries. He said no Zika fatalities have been recorded. Its symptoms are less severe than those of dengue haemorrhagic fever and patients can recover with proper treatment, he said.
However, pregnant women who develop Zika have a chance of giving birth to babies with microcephaly and other brain defects.
He said eradicating the breeding grounds of common house mosquitoes such as stagnant water would help fight the virus. Public campaigns to eradicate mosquito larvae have worked well although the rainy season has seen a resurgence of extensive amounts of larvae.
In Nakhon Ratchasima, Dr Teerawat Valaisathein, director of the Provincial Disease Prevention and Control Office 9, said Zika infections have been found in seven provinces including Bangkok recently.