An Aedes aegypti mosquito inside a test tube (Source: Reuters)
Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – The Health Ministry of Malaysia confirmed on September 3 the first locally-transmitted Zika infection case.
The 61-year-old man from Sabah state got fever on August 27 and was transferred to Elizabeth hospital No 2 due to showing high fever, muscle pains and diarrhea.
The Health Ministry has promptly taken response measures to kill Aedes mosquito, which spreads Zika virus, and monitored those who had contact with the patient for early detection of infections.
Examining the patient’s travel history, health officials were certain that the man contracted the mosquito-borne virus in the country as he has not traveled overseas recently.
On September 1, Malaysia confirmed that a woman got the virus after traveling to Zika-hit Singapore.
As by September 2, Singapore reported 189 Zika cases, including 11 Malaysians with one working in Singapore but living in Malaysia’s Johor state.
The Zika virus, which has spread through the Americas and the Caribbean since late last year, is generally a mild disease but is a particular risk to pregnant women. It has been linked to microcephaly - a severe birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains.-VNA
