Malaysia recorded its first case of Zika infection in a 58-year-old woman in Bandar Botanic in Klang who was suspected to have been infected on Wednesday. The woman recently visited her daughter in Singapore, The Star reports.This is just the latest case of Zika infection in the region raising the alarm on the disease’s progress and prompting governments to impose measures in order to contain outbreaks.Fogging has been implemented in areas in Singapore and Malaysia, and border checks between Malaysia and Singapore, and Singapore and Indonesia, have been tightened.Indonesia’s health ministry has assigned health officials to stand guard at eight Riau Islands sea ports that serve routes to Singapore as an anticipatory measure to limit the spread of the virus, The Jakarta Post reports.Since late last month, Malaysia has stepped up precautionary measures like setting up thermal scanners - which can detect fever - at its airports and the two major entry points in Johor, where an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people move daily across the border with Singapore.Thailand, meanwhile, has been named as a "red alert" country by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control with increasing or widespread Zika virus transmission to the point of having the region's highest number of patients within the last three months, according to The Nation.At least 97 people in Thailand have been diagnosed with the disease in the first six months of this year. Authorities assured that Thailand is following international health regulations and observing the World Health Organisation's advice on the disease including implementing epidemiology surveillance, vector surveillance, birth-defect newborn surveillance, and nervous system adverse event surveillance.The Straits Times notes that what has caused some alarm about Zika is the link between the virus and microcephaly (the impaired brain development of babies) as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome (an autoimmune disease that leads to weakness and paralysis). The risk for microcephaly with Zika infections in the first trimester of pregnancy ranges from 1 per cent to 13 per cent, according to a study.

Source: The Nation Bangkok September 01, 2016 06:11 UTC