QUITO Ecuador has confirmed 22 cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus and suspects 67 more, the government said, stressing it would intensify prevention campaigns in high-risk areas.
The cases were detected in six provinces of the largely Andean country, including in the Galapagos Islands.
So far, there are no reports of pregnant women with symptoms of the virus, which has been linked to severe birth defects in thousands of babies in Brazil.
“We’re prepared,” Health Minister Margarita Guevara told journalists late on Thursday. “As soon as the virus started to circulate, we activated plans in endemic areas.”
The virus is spreading “explosively” and could affect as many as four million people in the Americas, according to the WHO. [L8N15C37P]
(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Bernadette Baum)