The National Department of Health have confirmed the first case of Zika virus in the country.
According to media reports, a Colombian businessman who is visiting the country was diagnosed by a private pathology laboratory.
The man acquired the virus in South America before travelling to South Africa.
The department’s spokesperson, Joe Maila told EWN that the businessman presented himself with rash and fever after arriving in the country. He also said the man was recovering.
Meanwhile Health Minister Aaron Motswaledi told News24 that the confirmation of the case poses no risk to the South Africa population.
He was quoted, “The virus is not transmitted from human to human but through the Aedes aegypti mosquito and or possibly from mother to the foetus in pregnant women. A case of sexual transmission was recently reported in the US but this is still regarded as very rare.”
The most common symptoms of Zika Virus are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes) according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Other common symptoms include muscle pain and headache. The incubation period (the time from exposure to symptoms) for Zika virus disease is not known, but is likely to be a few days to a week.
The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week.
Zika virus usually remains in the blood of an infected person for about a week but it can be found longer in some people.
About one in five people infected with Zika virus become ill.
First Zika virus case in South Africa
JOBURG – Businessman was diagnosed by a private Johannesburg pathology laboratory and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases is performing a confirmation test.
