THE Kwara State government has called on the people of the state travelling outside the country to keep off the Zika fever-infected areas, especially, Latin America.

The state Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Sulaiman Alege, who made the call on Saturday in Ilorin, said that the people should also inculcate personal hygiene and keep their environments clean. Alege, who spoke to newsmen, said that people need to take active measures to prevent mosquito bite always.

According to him, the disease had yet to come to Nigeria, but he emphasised on the need for people to take precautionary measures to keep the disease in check and prevent outbreak.

Also speaking, the state's epidemiologist, Dr Michael Oguntoye, said that the disease is caused by Zika virus, a member of the genus flavivirus similar to dengue fever.

Oguntoye said that there were concerns that pregnant women who became infected with Zika virus could transmit the disease to their unborn babies with potential serious consequences.

He said that most infected areas demonstrated an increase in several foetal births defects and poor pregnancy outcomes in babies whose mothers were infected with Zika virus while pregnant.