Zika virus detected in SA
A 25-year-old man who recently returned to South Australia from overseas has been diagnosed with Zika virus. But SA Health says there’s no risk to the public.
SA Health Chief Medical Officer Paddy Phillips told reporters that lab results confirmed the diagnosis yesterday.
But there is no risk to the South Australian public, he said, because the state does not have the mosquito that spreads the virus.
“There is no risk to the public from this man, he’s recovered,” said Phillips.
However, he said, “there have been two cases of sexual transmission of Zika virus in the past”.
“This man has been counselled about … abstaining from sexual activity, or wearing a condom.
“The standard symptoms of Zika virus are headache, fever, muscle aches and pains, joint pains, rash, conjunctivitis.”
However, he said the virus showed mild or no symptoms in most people.
Health Minister Jack Snelling said the main risk was to unborn babies.
“Zika virus is a relatively mild illness, but [it] can have devastating consequences for unborn babies,” he told reporters.
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“We would very strongly recommend that pregnant women not travel to areas where the Zika virus is prevalent.”
Phillips said Zika transmission was known to be occuring in the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, the Pacific Island and South America.
He would not reveal where the man had travelled to, or how long he was in South Australia before diagnosis, although he arrived in SA “recently”.
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