Zika virus detected in 8 Dhaka residents over 3 months

Researchers of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control And Research (IEDCR) and the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr. b) have found the Zika virus in the bodies of eight people in the last three months. All of them are residents of Dhaka. 

IEDCR Virology Department's Chief Scientific Officer Dr Nowsher Alam confirmed the matter to the Daily Samakal on Wednesday. 

The eight infected people are from Dhaka's Dhanmondi, Shyamoli and Banani areas. IEDCR or icddr,b did not inspect any samples from outside Dhaka, so the situation outside the capital is yet unknown. 

Zika virus is a mosquito-borne virus. Most people infected with the Zika virus do not develop symptoms. Among those who do, they typically start 3–14 days after infection, are generally mild including rash, fever, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise and headache, and usually last for 2–7 days. The diagnosis of Zika virus infection requires laboratory confirmation.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Zika virus infection during pregnancy is a cause of microcephaly (the head becoming smaller than normal) and other congenital malformations in the infant. Zika virus infection can also cause Guillain-Barré syndrome, neuropathy and myelitis, particularly in adults and older children.