The Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sports said Thursday they have identified a Zika virus case in a pregnant foreigner woman in Yangon, state media reports. Authorities confirmed the infection in the 32-year-old foreign woman yesterday following a laboratory test.
This is the first Zika case confirmed in Myanmar, officials note.
Seventy-three countries and territories have reported evidence of mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission since 2007 (67 with reports from 2015 onwards), of which, Fifty-six with a reported outbreak from 2015 onwards, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Related: Zika in Asia: CDC says pregnant women should postpone travel to 11 countries
Zika is spread mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito (Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus). These mosquitoes bite during the day and night. Zika can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus. Infection during pregnancy can cause certain birth defects.
There is no vaccine or medicine for Zika.
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