The Department of Health said on Mon, Sep 3, that a Filipina now staying in Iloilo has acquired Zika infection, a mosquito-borne virus linked to birth defects like microcephaly.
DOH undersecretary Gerardo Bayugo clarified that the unnamed Filipina came into the country already positive with Zika.
(Update: The DOH later clarified that the 45-year-old woman acquired the Zika virus through local transmission)
“She was examined abroad and turned out positive for Zika,” Bayugo said in a Facebook update on People’s Television.
He guaranteed that the hospital facilities in Region 6 are equipped to handle the case.
This is the sixth recorded case of the Zika virus infection in the Philippines.
The first was recorded in 2012 in Cebu.
To non-pregnant individuals, Zika virus infection is mild in comparison to dengue fever. Only a small number of people develop complications.
Here are the symptoms associated with Zika:
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