The first one was reported on 21 August that a 58-year-old woman from Klang who had visited Singapore earlier.
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Dr Subramaniam said given the close proximity of Johor Bahru to Singapore, the increasing number of Zika cases in Malaysia is to be expected.
The virus is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, which also carries dengue. The city-state is undergoing an outbreak of Zika infections, having recorded a total of 275 cases.
In a follow-up on the Zika virus situation in Malaysia, the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) has received a report Monday on the third confirmed Zika infection involving a 27-year-old Chinese woman who is staying in Taman Desa Harmoni, Johor Bharu.
Dr Subramaniam said that health authorities had not yet determined how the woman had been infected but that she had visited Singapore six months ago and that her husband made regular trips to the state.
He said vector control measures had been implemented immediately in Johor Bahru, including in the vicinity of the woman’s house. On Saturday it reported its first suspected locally transmitted case, where the man had no recent history of overseas travel, was already in fragile health due to other conditions, and subsequently died of heart-related complications.
It has stepped up screening of travellers from overseas, particularly Singapore, and of fogging with mosquito-killing chemicals. Another Malaysian state, Perak, had also implemented body temperature scanning for passengers arriving from Singapore at its airport.
Zika infections in pregnant women have been shown to cause microcephaly, a severe birth defect in which the head and brain are undersized, besides other brain abnormalities.
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The pregnant woman is the third case of Zika detected in Malaysia.
