On Aug 25, the government confirmed the city's first case of imported Zika virus infection. Coincidentally, two days later, Singapore also reported its first case of locally transmitted Zika infection. Importantly, the number of cases in Singapore had escalated to 215 by Saturday.

There are many fascinating aspects about the Zika virus.

First, although the virus was discovered at the Zika Forest of Uganda in 1947, the short span between the Hong Kong and Singapore outbreaks is truly remarkable, perhaps signifying the rapid penetration of such infections in this region. The sudden increase of local Zika infections in Singapore also suggests that many more cases are likely to follow. In fact, World Health Organization (WHO) has just listed Singapore on the list of Zika affected countries. This alarming phenomenon should serve as an urgent wake-up call for the Hong Kong government to do everything possible to prevent such similar proliferation in our neighborhoods. In addition to threatening the public health of Hong Kong people, a similar warning of Zika infection issued by WHO would be a disaster to the already declining tourist and retail industries in Hong Kong.

Second, the world has paid so much attention to the Zika crisis even though as an infectious disease it is actually pretty mild and insignificant since in most cases this infection is either asymptomatic or only causes slight discomfort, such as low fever, red rashes, conjunctivitis (red eye), etc, that usually disappear in days even without treatment. However, when a pregnant woman is infected by this virus, her baby might suffer microcephaly (small brain formation), several brain malformations and other birth defects that will almost certainly become a major burden and agony throughout the child and its parents' lives. This is what makes the Zika infection so dangerous and dreaded!

However, like many things in life, there might be a silver lining even amid Zika's very dark clouds. For instance, this virus might some day be a useful tool for deciphering certain mysterious mechanisms during brain development, thereby perhaps enhancing our understanding of the calligraphy of the brain originally discovered by Nobelists Torten Wiesel and David Hubel, as well as the basis of such precious human features as creativity and compassion. Also, Zika or its related products might even be used to develop novel diagnostics and therapeutics, just as in the case of many other toxins. In this regard, research on the possible prevention of Zika infection has already begun. In fact, scientists in the US are already attempting to produce genetically engineered Zika-bearing strains of mosquitoes whose progenies will die prematurely, thereby hopefully reducing the number of the Zika-carrying insects.

Finally, no preventive or therapeutic agents are currently available for Zika infection, although many institutions are attempting to develop traditional injectable vaccines against the disease. As with many global public health issues, proper and massive vaccinations remain a most effective way to prevent many infectious diseases in animals and man alike. However, the production, storage and application of injectable vaccines might be prohibitively expensive or inconvenient to administer, especially for most developing nations. In this regard, governments and institutions such as the WHO, Institut Pasteur, Gates Foundation, etc, might want to consider seriously the development of edible vaccines as a novel application to combat these diseases. Such a cost-effective and convenient approach, though still in the developmental stage, is well worth pursuing since it might ultimately be an efficacious method not only against Zika, but also against many other human and animal infectious diseases as well.

(HK Edition 09/05/2016 page11)