Nation raises travel alert for Tonga over Zika virus

Taiwan has raised its travel alert for Tonga to yellow, the second lowest on its four-color alert system, after the Pacific island country reported more than 500 suspected Zika virus cases and seven confirmed cases.
In a travel notice the Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised the travel alert for Tonga from gray, the lowest alert level, to yellow, given that the country has declared the mosquito-borne Zika virus an epidemic.

The ministry urged Taiwanese nationals who plan to travel to Tonga to think twice about going there and take precautions to prevent mosquito bites if a visit to Tonga is necessary.

Pregnant women and those planning a pregnancy should postpone trips to the country, it said.

The ministry also noted the World Health Organization's warning of a possible outbreak of the Zika virus in Vanuatu in the South Pacific, saying that it will maintain a yellow alert for the island country.

The ministry has a gray alert in effect for the South Pacific island countries of Fiji and Samoa, as well French dependency New Caledonia and French Polynesia, but it urged pregnant women and those who plan a pregnancy not to visit those areas.

A yellow travel alert remains in effect for the Solomon Islands after that Pacific island country reported five confirmed Zika virus cases and seven suspected cases, the ministry said Thursday.

In addition to the South Pacific region, Taiwan has also issued a travel advisory for Thailand over the Zika virus.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued its second-highest travel advisory in its three tier system Sunday for Thailand after the World Health Organization listed the country as one of the countries to report indigenous Zika virus cases.

In view of the Zika emergency, the CDC has issued a travel alert for Central and South America and the Caribbean, the second-highest advisory in its three-tier system.

It has also issued a travel watch, its lowest advisory, for Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Gabon.

The Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes and the virus is known to circulate in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, according to the World Health Organization.

Zika viral transmission since 2007 has been documented in 46 countries and territories,

A total of 34 countries have reported locally acquired infections between 2015 and 2016, six have indications of viral circulation, five have been exposed to the Zika virus but the outbreak has ended, and one has a locally acquired case but without vector borne transmission, the WHO said.

source: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/