CLEAN UP YOUR SURROUNDINGS: WHO

The World Health Organisation in the country continues its call for people to clean up their surroundings to protect themselves and their family from the deadly zika virus.

This comes as WHO declares the mosquito-borne Zika virus as an international public health emergency.

Acting WHO representative in the country Seyha Ross says no case has been detected this year, but stresses, a clean environment is the only way to prevent a possible zika outbreak.

“So the message to the public should be involving in cleaning up their premises, not to allow the mosquito to breed inside their home or in their environment because this desease is transmitted by the mosquito called the agypty which is the same vector for dengue transmission, so it requires a community and individual to clean up their breeding sources.”

Meanwhile, Mr Ross says the virus is detected through blood tests, and requires more sophisticated laboratory equipment which the country does not have.

“So zika, even for dengue it requires a more sophisticated laborarory to use the means to detect them biologically to confirm these diseases, so usually the Solomon Islands laboratory do not have the capacity to detect the zika virus unless a sample has to be sent overseas to the laboratory in Australia or in other parts of the world that has the capacity to detect and identify the virus.”

SIBC News understands the virus was declared an outbreak in the Solomon Islands in 2015 with five cases reported.

All patients have since recovered.