Antananarivo – Madagascar’s Health Minister Andriamanarivo Lalatiana on Wednesday denied rumours of the presence of Zika virus in the country.
The minister said in a statement that “information circulating on France’s foreign affairs ministry website is erroneous and it has been corrected
by the French Embassy.
He stated that the French foreign affairs ministry website recently claimed that Zika virus had been detected in Madagascar, noting that “the
site did not specify the date for detection, nor the nationality or identity of the person carrying the virus, neither did it state the place where the confirmation was made.”
Lalatiana said “certainly, the World Health Organisation categorised Madagascar as one of the countries vulnerable to the disease, but it already has an action plan in case of outbreak.”
He, however, added that Madagascar had the necessary equipment to diagnose any suspected Zika virus case.
Meanwhile, the Regional Health Adviser at the French Embassy in Madagascar, Christine Cabane, said the embassy had quickly made changes to the statement.
She said “I am sincerely sorry for the consequences this might have caused.”
Cabane clarified that the ministry’s crisis centre only wanted to highlight high potential regions for Zika virus, including Madagascar.
She noted that “to date, no suspected case of Zika virus has been confirmed in Madagascar, the statement on the embassy website also
reads.” (Xinhua/NAN)