PUTRAJAYA, Sept 8 — The Health Ministry will focus on the state of Johor to implement prevention and control measures to eradicate the Aedes mosquito, said Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.

He said all vector control activities would be coordinated with the related government agencies by focusing on reducing the breeding grounds of the Aedes mosquito, the carrier of the Zika virus.

Dr Subramaniam said he suspected that Johor was the centre of the spread of Zika considering that the state was the point of entry and exit for Singaporeans and Malaysians who commute to work.

"So, we will give attention to Johor in an effort to eradicate the virus and hope that people will give full cooperation to eliminate the Aedes mosquito breeding grounds. 

"We will focus and improve the control measures in Johor before expanding them to other areas,” he told reporters after handing over aid totalling RM800,000 to 124 non-governmental organisations here today.

Yesterday, Dr Subramaniam confirmed that a 27-year-old woman from Taman Desa Harmoni, Johor Bahru, was the country’s first case of Zika in a pregnant woman.

Asked on the woman’s husband, who was working in Singapore, he said test results to find out whether he too had contracted the virus would be out within one or two days.

On the vaccine to prevent Zika, he said that although some countries had done research on the vaccine, it was expected to take a long time to be available in Malaysia.

Dr Subramaniam said the people need to keep their houses and surroundings clean to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes. — Bernama