Zika travel advisory on 11 Southeast Asian countries issued by CDC
Pregnant women are being advised to postpone nonessential travel to 11 Southeast Asian countries due to the increasing risk of infection from the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which was shown to cause severe birth defects, according to US health officials.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have named Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East Timor), and Vietnam as the countries with the travel advisory.
According to the CDC, if the number of cases rises to the level of an outbreak in these Southeast Asian countries, “travel notices” like those issued for Zika-struck countries like Brazil and Singapore may be considered.
Zika was first identified in Brazil last year and has been spreading globally. The CDC has so far advised pregnant women to avoid going to nearly 60 countries and regions due to the active spread of the virus.
But unlike parts of Central and South America and the Caribbean which were hit the hardest by the recent Zika outbreak, areas of Southeast Asia have had the virus present for many years. It is considered endemic in these countries and many people who live there are likely immune, the CDC said in a statement.
The agency said there have been recent variations in the number of cases reported in the region and, while the level of risk is unknown, Zika virus infection during pregnancy causes severe birth defects, including microcephaly and other severe brain abnormalities.
According to Henry Harteveldt, founder of the travel consultancy Atmosphere Research Group, visits to Southeast Asia ahead of the peak winter travel season around Christmas and New Year’s may be discouraged by the warning. He also added that this could have a noticeable impact on inbound tourism and may possibly cause some economic damage.
The impact may not be limited to U.S. vacationers, he added. “When the US CDC issues an alert, just like when the US State Department issues an advisory, it’s taken very seriously across the travel industry. It may prompt the CDC’s counterparts (in other countries) to take a look and issue their own warnings,” Harteveldt said.
Airline bookings to parts of Latin America and the Caribbean slipped globally after the CDC issued a similar travel warning for the region because of Zika.
