A pregnant woman in Australia has tested positive for the Zika virus after traveling overseas, health officials said Wednesday.
The woman was diagnosed in Queensland state after returning from a trip abroad, the Queensland Department of Health said in a statement. The department declined to provide additional details, such as which country the woman had visited, saying only it was not a locally acquired case of the virus.
Also Wednesday, government officials reported China’s first case of the Zika virus in a 34-year-old man who recently traveled to Venezuela and is now making a recovery.
The 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 National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement.
In Australia last week, another woman in Queensland was diagnosed with Zika after returning from a trip to El Salvador.
Experts say the risk of Zika spreading across Australia and China is extremely low. The type of mosquito that carries the virus only lives in the far northeast corner of Australia, which is sparsely populated, while cold winter temperatures and a lack of mosquito activity are hindrances to Zika’s spread in China.
Bernhard Schwartlander, the World Health Organization representative in Beijing, said imported cases of Zika in China are to be expected given the frequency of travel between the country and South America.
“Chinese health authorities are well prepared to respond to this and any further imported cases,” Schwartlander said in a statement issued by his office. “The current risk of a widespread outbreak of Zika virus in China is low.”
The Zika virus has spread quickly through Latin America. Most people who contract it have either mild or no symptoms, but it is suspected of causing a birth defect that results in babies born with abnormally small heads.
Associated Press
![By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and DARLENE SUPERVILLE (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday said the first rule to set minimum staffing levels at federally funded nursing homes and require that a certain portion of the taxpayer dollars they receive go toward wages for care workers is a long-overdue “milestone” that […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Election_2024-Harris_89203.jpg?w=525 "By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and DARLENE SUPERVILLE (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday said the first rule to set minimum staffing levels at federally funded nursing homes and require that a certain portion of the taxpayer dollars they receive go toward wages for care workers is a long-overdue “milestone” that […]")
