The deadly Zika virus has arrived in Europe, hospitalising one person in Denmark who tested positive for the mosquito-borne virus.
Italy, Spain, the UK, and Switzerland have also confirmed that several people have been tested positive with the disease.
RT.com reports:
A Danish tourist contracted the virus while traveling through South and Central America, where Zika is spreading now. The patient is now being treated at the University hospital in Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city.
The Dane arrived at the Department of Infectious Diseases with flu-like symptoms including fever, headache and muscle pain, but later tests revealed that the patient had been infected with the Zika virus.
#ZikaVirus: What you need to know about the latest global health scare https://t.co/h5ii56hRkG pic.twitter.com/TRgeecwPt0
— RT (@RT_com) January 23, 2016
But the virus is on the rise across the world and several cases have already appeared in Europe. On Tuesday, Italy reported several cases of the virus, saying that all the people infected had recently returned from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Q: What is #Zika? A: Zika is a virus spread to humans by Aedes mosquitoes, the same mosquitoes that spread dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever
— WHO (@WHO) January 22, 2016
In addition, two cases were reported in Spain, three in the UK and two in Switzerland.
The Zika virus is contracted through mosquito bites and has been detected in human semen, but cannot be spread by human contact.
.@ololaday77 There is currently no cure or vaccine for #Zika https://t.co/3Fq6lJSQpz
— WHO (@WHO) January 22, 2016
Its symptoms are mild and include a fever, rash, joint pain and red, itchy eyes. Pregnant women are most at risk, as the virus has been linked to serious birth defects. The disease has gained international attention in recent weeks because of the increase in infection cases.
Sean Adl-Tabatabai