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 Chile eradicated the Aedes aegypti mosquito species in 1961 on its
mainland and the World Health Organization has said it does not
expect the Zika virus to spread to the country.
The mosquito specimen was found dead in a home in the city of Arica,
located some 1,033 miles (1,663 kms) north of capital city Santiago
in the Atacama desert next to the border with Peru, health
authorities said.
"The mostly likely scenario is that it isn't just one (specimen)
because it was captured as an adult and it probably came here in an
egg; it's easier to transport that way," Health Undersecretary Jaime
Burrows said on Tuesday.
"Now we're in the process of counting them, seeing how many larvae
there are, where they are found," said Burrows.
Large parts of Latin America and the Caribbean have been affected by
the Zika outbreak, with Brazil hardest hit so far. It is likely to
spread to all countries in the Americas except Canada and Chile, the
WHO has said.
There have been no reported cases in mainland Chile of mosquitoes
infecting people with the Zika virus. In March the country reported
its first case of the Zika virus being sexually transmitted.
U.S. health officials have concluded that Zika infections in
pregnant women can cause microcephaly, a birth defect marked by
small head size that can lead to severe developmental problems in
babies.
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The World Health Organization has said there is strong scientific
consensus that Zika can also cause Guillain-Barre, a rare
neurological syndrome that causes temporary paralysis in adults.
The connection between Zika and microcephaly first came to light
last fall in Brazil, which has now confirmed more than 1,100 cases
of microcephaly that it considers to be related to Zika infections
in mothers.
(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Andrew Hay)
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