HPA unable to send Zika samples abroad due to lack of resources

Health Protection Agency has said that they are unable to send abroad samples taken to test for zika virus due to lack of resources.

Head of Communicable Disease Control, Dr. Fathmath Nazla Rafeeq spoke to “Sun” on Sunday and said that the samples they took were not enough. And that they had to stop the work due to lack of resources.

She said that they were also unable to send the samples they had taken to Bangkok, Thailand for analysis due to lack of equipment needed to freeze the urine samples before they can be sent.

Dr. Nazla said that HPA had now asked for help from World Health Organization, and were targeting to send the samples abroad for analysis before Ramadan.

Samples were taken from people who showed signs fever, red eyes, and red spots on the body.

HPA has advised the public to destroy mosquito breeding grounds in order to prevent spread of zika virus – a case of which has not yet been reported in the country, as well as dengue.