Five more people have been infected with the Zika virus, raising the city’s total number of Zika cases to 34, according to the municipal Department of Preventive Medicine.
Zika cases have now been reported in 12 of city’s 24 districts, the department said, warning of wider infection across the city.
Binh Thanh has reported seven cases, followed by District 2 and 9 with four cases each; Hoc Mon and Tan Phu district with three each. The rest are seen in Binh Tan, Thu Duc and Can Gio.
These cases were detected through dengue fever, Chikungunya and Zika infection monitoring efforts.
Tran Dac Phu, head of the Department of Preventive Medicine, said the big population, large numbers of visitors, poor environmental sanitation in many areas and low public awareness of disease prevention were all reasons behind the rapid increase in the number of infections.
On October 30, the department confirmed concluded that a four-month old baby in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak born with a shrunken head had been infected by his mother with the Zika virus during her pregnancy.
