BEIJING – China’s first case of the Zika virus has been found in a 34-year-old man who recently travelled to Venezuela and is now making a speedy recovery, the government said Wednesday.
The man from the southern city of Ganzhou had been treated in Venezuela on Jan. 28 before returning home on Feb. 5 via Hong Kong and the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement.
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The commission said he had been confirmed as having the Zika virus on Tuesday and was being treated at the Ganxian People’s Hospital. His temperature is now normal and a skin rash is receding, the statement said.
It said the chances of the virus spreading in China were “extremely low” due to cold winter temperatures and a lack of mosquito activity, the primary avenue by which Zika spreads.
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The Zika virus is spreading rapidly through Latin America. Most people who contract it have either mild or no symptoms, but it is suspected of causing a birth defect that results in babies born with abnormally small heads.