Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what monitoring is in place for people returning from countries where the Zika virus has been found to detect the presence of that virus.

Public Health England (PHE) and the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) are raising awareness among travellers to ensure they present for medical attention if they develop symptoms, and among health professionals so that they can rapidly investigate and diagnose potential cases of Zika. Updated advice has been published on the PHE Zika virus page and the NaTHNaC website:

http://travelhealthpro.org.uk/

PHE is providing tailored advice for relevant health professionals, including obstetricians and general practitioners (GPs). PHE is liaising with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Association of British Travel Agents who have published updates on their respective websites. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has also updated its country travel advice pages with information about Zika virus.

If a case of Zika is suspected, samples are sent to PHE’s Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory and positive results are reported to appropriate colleagues in PHE through the standard mechanisms.