ICDDRB reports first ‘cluster’ of
The International Center for Diarrhea Research Bangladesh (ICDDRB) has reported the detection of a cluster of Zika virus for the first time in Bangladesh, but its samples were collected several years ago. They reported information about the infection of the virus among five people in one area.
ICDDRB reports first ‘cluster’ of
The ICDDRB published information about this on its website on Monday.
It said that they obtained this information by reviewing samples collected in 2023. Scientists used whole genome sequencing and comparative analysis to reveal that the Bangladeshi strain belongs to the Asian lineage.
Regarding the cluster infection, the ICDDRB said that researchers tested samples of patients who came to their Dhaka diagnostic center in 2023. 152 patients with fever were tested based on PCR on suspicion of having Zika symptoms. In this, Zika virus infection was found in samples of five people. These five patients lived within one kilometer. None of them had traveled abroad in the past two years. The ICDDRB said the patients were tested at the same time, suggesting they were part of the same transmission cycle. In addition, one in five infected people was also infected with dengue virus.
If infected, it can lead to serious complications such as microcephaly and other neurological disorders.
