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Pregnant woman tested for Zika after Fiji trip

Pregnant woman tested for Zika after Fiji trip

Pregnant woman tested for Zika after Fiji trip

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A pregnant woman from Kaohsiung and her husband were reportedly found to have contracted the Zika virus during a holiday in Fiji and the Solomon Islands, but a second battery of test results to be announced on June 4 was still necessary, the Kaohsiung City Government said Saturday.
The disease is spread by infected mosquitoes, and can cause babies of pregnant patients to be born with abnormally small heads. The virus reportedly originated in Brazil, but has spread to 60 countries, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Two previous cases of imported Zika virus in Taiwan were brought in by Thai citizens.
The woman from Kaohsiung’s Qianjin District, who is 24 weeks pregnant, traveled with her husband earlier this month and reentered the country through the southern city’s international airport on May 16.
The woman showed a fever on May 22 and her husband on May 25, health officials said. They visited a hospital but did not have to stay there. First tests by the Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital of the couple’s blood reportedly turned out negative, but there could only be certainty after the result of a second round of tests was announced on June 4.
The local health authorities had disinfected the couple’s home and workplace inside and out, reports said.
The authorities said there should be no panic, as of 1,455 people already tested for Zika, not a single case came out positive.
If travelers returning from areas such as Latin America and Southeast Asia felt uncomfortable within two weeks of their return, they should seek medical treatment and tell doctors about their travel history, the authorities said.