China Reports 1st Case of Imported Zika Virus

China has reported its first case of the Zika virus in a man who recently traveled to Venezuela.
China Reports 1st Case of Imported Zika Virus
Aedes aegypti mosquitos are seen in a lab at the Fiocruz institute on January 26, 2016 in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. The mosquito transmits the Zika virus and is being studied at the institute. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
The Associated Press
2/9/2016
Updated:
2/10/2016

BEIJING—China has reported its first case of the Zika virus in a man who recently traveled to Venezuela.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission says the 34-year-old man from the southern city of Ganzhou had been treated in Venezuela on Jan. 28 before returning home on Feb. 5 via Hong Kong and the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

The commission said the man was confirmed as having the Zika virus on Tuesday, but his temperature was now normal and a skin rash was receding.

It said the virus is highly unlikely to spread in China due to low winter temperatures and a lack of mosquito activity, the primary avenue by which Zika spreads.

Zika infections in pregnant women has been suspected for causing a rare birth defect.