BANGKOK -- Since the Zika virus first caught the world's attention following one of the most serious outbreaks, in Brazil last year, Thai health authorities have been at pains to allay local fears that a similar outbreak could occur in the Southeast Asian country, which reported its first confirmed case of Zika in 2012.
But there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Zika cases since the beginning of 2016, with 97 reported across 10 provinces, after only five cases were reported on average each year since 2012.
