Hong Kong has confirmed its first case of Zika, putting the Asian financial centre on high alert for any spread of the mosquito-borne virus that has wreaked havoc in Latin America, the Caribbean and beyond.
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The 38-year-old patient is now in a stable condition in an isolation ward at United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong. The Health commission said he posed extremely low risk of spreading the virus, Xinhua reported. She had recently traveled to St. Barthelemy island in the Caribbean – one of the hotbeds of the mosquito-borne disease – and began showing symptoms like red eyes and joint pain on Saturday before testing positive five days later.
She sought help at Matilda Medical Centre in Central on Tuesday, but did not require admission.
As the local victim lives in Lohas Park in Tseung Kwan O, residents of the area, especially pregnant women, should protect themselves from bites, Dr.
After returning to Hong Kong, the woman is believed to have been to downtown Hong Kong and Clear Water Bay, according to the Hong Kong Economic Journal.
The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health said the virus-affected woman had travelled with two other family members to the Caribbean and stayed there from Aug 6 to 20.
She refused to be quarantined at first, but CHP warned her that she would be violating the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance if she did not cooperate.
However, her family members have not shown any symptoms as of now.
The CHP said the woman alleged she had been stung by a mosquito at the Caribbean, not in Hong Kong.
The patient is now in a stable condition in an isolation ward at United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong.
Zika was detected in Brazil past year and has since spread across the Americas.
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The virus, for which there is no vaccine as of now, is suspected to cause microcephaly, a neurological disorder in which babies are born with smaller than normal heads and brains.
