What are the origins of the Zika virus?
The Zika virus is not entirely new and has existed since the 1940s. It was first detected and isolated in 1947 when it was identified and named. The name Zika comes from a forest near Entebbe in Uganda where the virus was detected from mosquitoes and also from primates that were found in the forest. So it is not a new virus, it has actually existed for many years in Africa.
Could you tell us a little about the current outbreak in South America?
The current outbreak in South America appears to be a virus that spread from Asia where some parts of the continent has had outbreaks. There was a real outbreak of the virus in islands in the Pacific Ocean and subsequently the same virus that was causing the outbreak in Micronesia appeared in Brazil.
Genetic studies that have been performed on the viruses that were isolated in Micronesian outbreak and the one now in South America indicate that those viruses are closely related but are significantly differences from the virus that was first isolated in Africa.
Is there a test for the Zika Virus? How readily available is it?
Here in Kemri we have the capacity to detect the Zika virus by looking for the virus itself using a methodology that picks up the gene of the virus called RNA. That methodology is popularly known as Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR.
The other test that we have capacity to perform is to detect the antibody that an infected person would produce once exposed to the virus. When someone gets infected by the Zika virus, other than circulating the virus itself, the person’s body’s also responds by producing antibodies to try and fight the virus.
Can the Zika virus be sexually transmitted?
Well, there is increasing evidence now to suggests that fact with publications coming out from work that has been going on since the outbreak in South America started. More research is being done to confirm this, but so far the evidence suggests the virus can be transmitted sexually in addition to the bites of infected mosquito vector.
What is microcephaly and is it fully understood how it is linked to Zika?
Microcephaly is a birth defect that manifests in the abnormal size of the head circumference of infants at birth. It could be caused by other causes but in South America right now, it has been associated with infants born to mothers who have been exposed to the Zika virus.
There is information we are seeing in literature now actually indicating that Zika virus has been found in brains of fetuses with Microcephaly thus, evidence is increasing to suggest that Microcephaly is caused by the Zika virus infection even though there are other causes.
Brazil has borne the brunt of the outbreak so far. Given that our athletes are there for the Olympics right now, do you think there is a risk of them bringing the virus back here on their return?
I would say there is some risk. I am not certain about the level of risk, however, because I don’t have the details about the steps that have been taken by the management of the city of Rio to prevent transmission of the virus.
However, it looks like they have convinced most of the world and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in particular that they have taken adequate steps to prevent the transmission of the virus.
Still, it is not wise to just assume that the host nation has taken all the precautions necessary to prevent you from contracting a disease especially when there is an outbreak going on.
What can the athletes do to reduce the chances of catching the virus?
I led a team at Kemri to talk to the officials of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and we advised them to take whatever steps they can to reduce the chances of getting infectious mosquito bites. Mosquitoes will always be there, what we need to minimise is the risk of the Kenyan Olympic team members being bitten. One of the things they can do is put on clothing that will cover most of the exposed parts of the body.
For areas of the body that they cannot cover, we’ve asked them to carry with them effective mosquito repellants and apply them repeatedly during their activities in the course of the day because the Zika Virus vector, Aedes mosquitoes, actually bite during the day.
Given the risks to pregnant women, what should the athletes do once they come back to Kenya?
We’ve advised the NOC that once the athletes come back to Kenya, we would like to screen them for the virus. We already have samples taken from over a hundred and fifty sports men and women and the officials who consented to the blood draw before they left.
This sample is what we call a baseline so that when they come back we will take a second sample which we will test so that we can pick out anybody who may have been exposed.
If we find anyone who has been exposed, that will be beneficial both to them and to the country. We will be able to advise the infected person on what they need to do to avoid exposure to their loves ones and also to prevent local transmission.
Can you compel the compel the athletes to submit for testing?
No we cannot as our standard of practice of testing is voluntary. We educate individuals on the benefits of undertaking the tests. When we were taking the baseline samples we went to the training camps and gave them a talk on what it is we will want to do and gave them chance to make voluntary decision.
Is Kenya well prepared to handle an outbreak of the Zika virus and what arrangements are in place?
The Zika virus is caused by a mosquito that is present practically anywhere in the country. There are certain areas where that vector is more abundant than in others. There are therefore those areas I would say are at a greater risk.
Because there are no vaccines for the Zika virus, the most important thing we have in place is the capacity to detect the virus in the lab. If we detect the cases and where they occur, the next step would be to take action to break transmission.
The most urgent thing we would do is vector control. We would move into wherever the areas where cases have been confirmed and undertake several vector control measures to stop transmission.
Is there anything the government can do to prevent a possible Zika virus outbreak in Kenya?
Maybe it is not foolproof but I think the government has taken adequate measures to prevent importation and possible outbreak of the Asian strain of Zika virus which is more dangerous. Don’t forget, we possibly have our own local strains of the virus that we haven’t even detected.
Preventing outbreaks would mainly be done by instituting the monitoring of travellers who are coming from outbreak areas, testing potential cases and being able to detect any cases early enough before local transmission gets initiated resulting in a local outbreak.