Papua New Guinea: 6 cases of Zika virus infection
April 23rd, 2016Zika virus infection – Papua New Guinea
On 11 March 2016, the National Department of Health of Papua New Guinea reported that 6 cases of Zika virus infection had been confirmed through retrospective testing of samples taken from patients presenting with a febrile illness between July 2014 and March 2016. Cases were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The following are the results by year:
- no Zika virus positive results were identified among 64 samples tested in 2014,
- 1 sample collected during a malaria outbreak in Morobe in May 2015 (a total of 34 samples were tested),
- 2 samples collected during a dengue outbreak in Western province in December 2015 (a total of 21 samples were tested), and
- 3 samples collected during a dengue outbreak in Kiunga in February 2016 (a total of 60 samples were tested).
None of the patients positive for Zika virus had travelled outside Papua New Guinea prior to their illness.