Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health. Will the minister update the House on what the government is doing to protect Australians from the Zika virus?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Leichhardt for his question. I am pleased to take this opportunity to update the House about the Zika virus. It is so named because it was first discovered in the Zika Forest in Uganda in 1947, so it has indeed been around for a long time. Both the Chief Medical Officer and I have briefed the opposition, the crossbench and the Greens. This is, of course, a bipartisan issue as we confront what the World Health Organization has not described as a global emergency but certainly has elevated to national and international concern.

The 23 cases of the Zika virus that have been notified in Australia have all been contracted overseas. However, there is a risk because the main vector, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is found in Central and North Queensland—hence, of course, the member for Leichhardt's strong interest in this issue. The best way to prevent oneself from contracting Zika is not to be bitten by the mosquito, and there is no evidence that transmission takes place person-to-person.

It has, of course, become of great interest recently because of the association between cases of Zika virus and microcephaly—which is babies being born with a small head—in Brazil, and other countries in Central and South America and the closer Pacific islands have all come under scrutiny when cases have arisen most recently. So the best advice for Australians is to follow the travel advice and to take particular care when travelling to those countries and to note particularly that, if you are pregnant or considering becoming pregnant, there is a risk of travelling to those areas of the world.

Zika is a nationally notifiable disease. We are working in close partnership with state health organisations and we are taking the necessary steps at our border: disinfecting aircraft and controlling areas where exotic insects, including mosquitoes, might breed. So Australians can feel confident that the Department of Health, state partners and the department of agriculture—and the stewardship of the minister of biosecurity and quarantine—are watching this carefully and will continue to keep the House informed and updated.