Europe’s first case of the sexually transmitted Zika virus has been recorded in France, where a woman has been infected after her partner returned from Brazil, reports The Guardian.
France’s minister for social affairs, health and women’s rights, Marisol Touraine, said the woman was not pregnant, therefore at low risk of any complications, and was recovering well.
Experts believe babies born to mothers infected with Zika while pregnant are susceptible to microcephaly, a congenital condition that causes abnormally small heads and hampers brain development.
Touraine, who was on a visit to French Guiana, said the case was recorded in the Paris area. “She showed classic signs of the disease,” an official said. “She was not hospitalised and is doing well.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says up to 46 countries have reported some level of evidence of Zika infection and that 130 countries are home to the Aedes aegypti mosquito that carries the virus, meaning the eventual spread of the disease could be widespread and rapid.
Denmark, Germany and Britain have all reported cases of the disease in tourists returning from affected areas. Zika virus is not deemed a notifiable disease by the EU and so countries are not required to report cases to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, so the accuracy of reporting of cases is variable.