Teen in Kanagawa Prefecture diagnosed with Zika virus

KYODO, STAFF REPORT

 

• FEB 25, 2016
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The health ministry said Thursday it has confirmed the first case of the Zika virus in Japan since its spread in Latin America was detected last year.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/02/25/national/teen-in-kanagawa-prefecture-diagnosed-with-zika-virus/#.Vs8CFvkrKdu

 

Edited February 25, 201610 yr by niman

The health ministry said Thursday it has confirmed the first case of the Zika virus in Japan since its spread in Latin America was detected last year.

The mosquito-borne virus was detected in a male teenager in Kanagawa Prefecture who had recently stayed in Brazil, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said. The nationality of the teenager was not disclosed.

Japan has beefed up efforts to keep the virus out after the World Health Organization declared its spread a global public health emergency on Feb. 1, raising alert levels and making reports mandatory.

In Japan, three people were diagnosed with the Zika virus in 2013 and 2014 after returning from the French Polynesian island of Bora Bora and Thailand.

The teen was confirmed infected by testing at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

According to NHK, the teenager visited a hospital in Kanagawa on Thursday complaining of a fever and a rash. He had been in Brazil until Saturday.