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 The latest countries singled out by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention are Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East
Timor), and Vietnam.
The CDC said "travel notices," like those issued for Zika-struck
countries like Brazil and Singapore, have not been issued for these
destinations, but such warnings would be considered if the number of
cases rises to the level of an outbreak.
Zika, which is mainly a mosquito-borne disease, was first identified
in Brazil last year and has been spreading globally. The CDC has so
far advised pregnant women to avoid going to nearly 60 countries and
regions because of the active spread of the virus.
Unlike parts of Central and South America and the Caribbean hit
hardest by the recent Zika outbreak, areas of Southeast Asia have
had the virus present for many years. It is considered endemic in
these countries, the CDC said in a statement, and many people who
live there are likely immune.
The agency said there have been recent variations in the number of
cases reported in the region and, while the level of risk is
unknown, Zika virus infection during pregnancy causes severe birth
defects, including microcephaly and other severe brain
abnormalities.
Henry Harteveldt, founder of the travel consultancy Atmosphere
Research Group, said the warning could discourage visits to
Southeast Asia ahead of the peak winter travel season around
Christmas and New Years.
"Some of these destinations are very popular for students and
younger adults in their 20s or 30s looking for vacations, whether
it's a backpacking tour or surfing or swimming," said Harteveldt.
"This could have a noticeable impact on inbound tourism and (cause)
some economic damage."
The impact may not be limited to U.S. vacationers, he added.
"When the U.S. CDC issues an alert, just like when the U.S. State
Department issues an advisory, it’s taken very seriously across the
travel industry. It may prompt the CDC’s counterparts (in other
countries) to take a look and issue their own warnings," Harteveldt
said.
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To be sure, any dip in travel to Southeast Asia is unlikely to hurt
profits for U.S. airlines because they have few flights to the
region, relying instead on other carriers to transport their
customers with the help of marketing or "codeshare" agreements.
Companies that fly more to the destinations, like Air France-KLM SA
and Emirates [EMIRA.UL], have more exposure, said Harteveldt.
"These are not the top-tier vacation destinations that a lot of
people go to. They’re still (more like) "bucket-list" destinations,
he said. "It’s not like the CDC just issued a warning saying, don’t
go to England."
Airline bookings to parts of Latin America and the Caribbean slipped
globally after the CDC issued a similar travel warning for the
region because of Zika.
(Reporting by Dipika Jain in Bengaluru, additional reporting by
Deena Beasley in Los Angeles and Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing
by Shounak Dasgupta, Bernard Orr)
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