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 The virus, which is causing international alarm after spreading
through much of the Americas, was detected in a 34-year-old man from
Ganxian county in the eastern province of Jiangxi, Xinhua said,
citing China's National Health and Family Planning Commission.
(http://bit.ly/1PMj27U)
Chinese health authorities downplayed the risk of the mosquito-borne
virus spreading because of the winter cold, Xinhua added.
Hong Kong's Department of Health said in a statement that the man,
who had traveled through the city on his return to China, worked in
Dongguan, a bustling manufacturing city in the neighboring southern
province of Guangdong.
Hong Kong's Port Health Office has stepped up inspections at the
airport in response and reinforced training for boundary control
inspectors, the statement added.
Health officials in Guangdong urged people to guard against the
illness during dengue season, and vowed to step up efforts to ensure
early detection, Xinhua said. The dengue season runs during the hot
summer months of June to August, studies show.
There is a risk Zika could be spread locally if it was introduced to
Hong Kong, the statement said, because Aedes Albopictus mosquitoes,
which transmit the virus, live there. But no cases of the virus in
Hong Kong have been reported, it said.
The infected man had been quarantined at a hospital in his hometown
since Feb. 6, Xinhua said, adding that he was recovering, with
normal body temperature and a fading rash.
Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man told reporters
the department was seeking details of the man's travel history from
the mainland authorities because he had transited through the city.
The risk of contracting the virus through human contact was low, so
the bureau was not worried about the spread of the illness in Hong
Kong, Ko said, but he added the authorities were monitoring the
situation closely.
Mainland health authorities could not be immediately reached for
comment.
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Zika has spread quickly in South and Central America and the
Caribbean, with Brazil the worst affected country.
The World Health Organization declared an international health
emergency on Feb. 1 over the virus, citing concern over a possible
link with a rise in cases of microcephaly, a birth defect
characterized by an abnormally small head that can result in
developmental problems.
"With the volume of travel between China and South America, imported
cases of Zika virus in China are to be expected," Bernhard
Schwartländer, the body's representative in China, said in a
statement. "Chinese health authorities are well prepared to respond
to this and any further imported cases."
Most infected people have no symptoms or mild ones, including fever
and skin rashes.
The infected Chinese man had traveled to Venezuela and showed
symptoms including a fever, headache and dizziness on Jan 28, Xinhua
said. He returned home on Feb. 5 via Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
(Reporting by Megha Rajagopalan in BEIJING, Clare Jim in HONG KONG
and Ismail Shakil in BENGALURU; Editing by Alex Richardson and
Clarence Fernandez)
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