Zika virus not considered a threat in Zambia

Julius Lutwama, a virologist with the Uganda Virus Research Institute who has long investigated Zika, said on Wednesday there has never been a known outbreak in Uganda though a few samples have tested positive over the years.

He said Zika is “not a very important disease” on a continent where malaria, also transmitted by mosquitoes, is the major killer.

Zika virus is named for a forest just outside Uganda’s capital, Kampala, where it was first identified.

Zika is suspected in a surge of birth defects in Brazil, where infections were first identified last year.