Zika virus found in Danish tourist returning from South America

COPENHAGEN: A Danish tourist returning from Latin America has been diagnosed with the Zika virus, which has been blamed for a surge in birth defects in the region, triggering a major health scare.



"A Danish tourist who travelled to Central and South America was diagnosed on his return with the Zika virus," Aarhus hospital in eastern Denmark said in a statement late Tuesday.

Britain has also reported a handful of cases in travellers returning from South America while the Netherlands has confirmed 10 cases of infection, also in travellers returning from the region.



The Zika virus, a flu-like disease that is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, has been linked to a jump in the number of babies born in Latin America, particularly Brazil, with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads.

There is no cure or vaccine.

The Danish patient was a young man who was expected to make a full recovery, the head of Aarhus hospital, Lars Ostergaard told public broadcaster DR.