Dhaka, March 3 -- Scientists at icddr,b have identified five cases of Zika virus in patient samples collected in 2023, marking the first reported cluster of Zika infections in Bangladesh.
The information was published on the icddr,b website on Monday.
Zika virus, classified as a significant emerging pathogen, was first detected in humans in Nigeria in 1954. It remained undetected in Asia and Africa for over fifty years.
In Bangladesh, a 2016 retrospective surveillance study by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control & Research (IEDCR) confirmed the country's first Zika-positive case. The sample, collected in 2014 from a patient with no history of international travel, indicated that the virus had been present in Bangladesh before ...