http://health.asiaone.com/health/health-news/don-sabah-people-may-have-inborn-zika-virus-antibodies
Don: Sabah people may have inborn Zika virus antibodies
Photo: The Star/Asia News Network
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KOTA KINABALU -*People in Sabah may not need to be too worried about the Zika virus because they could have inborn antibodies since it is said to be endemic here.
A Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) professor said the virus has been found in apes and probably humans here as early as the 1960s.
"From what scientists have researched and confirmed, we know that the orang utan are among apes or monkeys that carry the virus," molecular epidemiologist Prof Dr Kamruddin Ahmed said.
However, due to deforestation and other factors forcing more animal-human contact, the Zika virus has been spread to humans, he said during an open forum on the virus at UMS on Tuesday.
"It means that most of us probably have a natural anti-body against the virus," he said.
PHOTO GALLERY
What is the Zika virus?
Don: Sabah people may have inborn Zika virus antibodies
Photo: The Star/Asia News Network
FacebookTwitterShareWhatsApp
KOTA KINABALU -*People in Sabah may not need to be too worried about the Zika virus because they could have inborn antibodies since it is said to be endemic here.
A Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) professor said the virus has been found in apes and probably humans here as early as the 1960s.
"From what scientists have researched and confirmed, we know that the orang utan are among apes or monkeys that carry the virus," molecular epidemiologist Prof Dr Kamruddin Ahmed said.
However, due to deforestation and other factors forcing more animal-human contact, the Zika virus has been spread to humans, he said during an open forum on the virus at UMS on Tuesday.
"It means that most of us probably have a natural anti-body against the virus," he said.
PHOTO GALLERY
What is the Zika virus?