So far no patients have been found to be infected, one official from the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO), who asked not to be named, told The Phuket News.
Meanwhile, the PPHO is also urging residents to rid areas around their homes of standing water where mosquitos breed to prevent possible outbreak of the disease in Phuket.
"Residents and tourists can help by making sure that areas around their homes and places where they are staying do not breed mosquitoes - and by doing so we are not only preventing Zika from spreading, but also dengue as well,” the official, who works at the PPHO Disease Control Centre, explained.
Public Health Minister Dr Piyasakol Sakolsathayathorn yesterday assured that the spread of the Zika virus in Thailand is not as severe as characterised by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has reported.
He urged the public not to panic. “The Department of Disease Control has the situation under control,” he told a meeting of the National Communicable Disease Commission.
Dr Piyasakol also explained that Zika was not new to Thailand. “It is found annually in several patients, but it can be limited and should not to be a cause of concern,” he said.
Dr Piyasakol said that infections of Zika in Thailand have been found only in Chantaburi, Petchabun, Bueng Kan and Chiang Mai, with most patients already past a 28-day monitoring period and a general warning of a possible outbreak of the virus has already lifted.