The Health Bureau (SSM) announced in a statement last night that Macau confirmed its first imported case of Zika fever yesterday.
The bureau identified the patient as a 32-year-old non-resident-worker (NRW) from the Philippines who lives in Son Hoi Building on Rua do Matapau in the city centre and works in Lun Seng Building on Rua do Tarrafeiro in the Inner Harbour area.
The patient, according to the statement, was in the Philippines from August 23 to September 2 and returned to Macau on September 2. Last Saturday, she began experiencing pain in the joints of her limbs, a rash developed on Monday, and on Wednesday she went to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre for medical attention and a blood test. The test result was positive for the Zika fever virus.
The patient was in a stable condition last night, and all co-habitants remained asymptomatic, the statement said.
Based on the patient’s travel history, the statement said, the timing of symptom onset, and the laboratory test results, this case has been classified as an imported case of the Zika virus. It is the first imported Zika virus case confirmed in Macau.
The bureau said it will dispatch personnel to the patient’s residence and the vicinity of her main activity areas in Macau to conduct inspections for mosquito breeding sources and carry out preventive mosquito control measures.
According to the statement, the Zika virus is primarily transmitted through the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. It can also be spread through sexual contact, blood transfusion, and from mother to foetus during pregnancy.
Most infected individuals do not show obvious symptoms. Common symptoms, when they occur, include fever, rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, and headache. The illness is typically mild in nature, the statement said.
Details in English about Zika can be found at: https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/healthtopics/content/24/43088.html
According to DeepSeek, the virus was first identified in 1947 in the Zika Forest near Entebbe, Uganda. Brazil was the epicentre of a major Zika virus epidemic that began in 2015. This outbreak gained international notoriety not for the mild illness it typically causes, but for its devastating link to severe birth defects, particularly microcephaly, and other neurological complications.
Microcephaly is a rare neurological condition where an infant’s head is significantly smaller than the heads of other children of the same age and sex. This smaller head size is due to the brain not developing properly during pregnancy or stopping growing after birth. There is no cure for microcephaly itself, and the condition is lifelong.
While Zika virus infection is typically mild for most people, it can be lethal, but this is rare and primarily affects specific, vulnerable groups, such as unborn babies, according to DeepSeek.
Image courtesy of Frisco Women’s Health
