JOHANNESBURG - South African health authorities on Friday confirmed the first Zika case involving a Colombian businessman.
The businessman who visited Johannesburg has been diagnosed with Zika
by a private Johannesburg pathology laboratory, Health Minister Aaron
Motsoaledi said.
At the moment the SA National Institute for Communicable Diseases
(NICD) is busy conducting confirmatory tests, according to the minister.
The businessman was in SA for four days when he went to see his
doctor because of fever and rash, but now he is fully recovered,
Motsoaledi said.
"This infection was acquired in Colombia before he visited Johannesburg," said Motsoaledi.
"The confirmation of this particular case poses no risk to the South
African population as the virus is not transmitted from human to human
but through the Aedes aegypti mosquito and or possibly from mother to
the foetus in pregnant women," Motsoaledi said.
The virus is causing international alarm after spreading quickly in
South and Central America and the Caribbean, with Brazil the worst
affected country.
The World Health Organization declared an international health
emergency on Feb. 1 over the virus, citing concern over a possible link
with a rise in cases of microcephaly, a birth defect characterized by an
abnormally small head that can result in developmental problems
Saturday , 20 February 2016
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