Malaysia confirms first case of Zika virus

Kuala Lumpur, Sept 1: Malaysia confirmed its first case of the Zika virus on Thursday, a woman who had recently travelled to Singapore.

The virus, which has caused alarm among Malaysian health authorities, was detected in the 58-year-old woman, said Malaysia's Health Minister S. Subramaniam.

She has been hospitalised, Xinhua news agency reported.

It is suspected that the woman got infected while visiting her daughter in Singapore from August 19 to 21. She began to exhibit symptoms of rash on August 28 and was tested positive on August 30, according to a press release from the ministry.

The health ministry has already started "vector control" operations to control the mosquito population in the residential area of the case and other places that the patient had visited.

Such operations include fogging and eliminating breeding sites of Aedes mosquitoes, which were found to carry the Zika virus in affected countries.

Subramaniam urged residents to allow vector control officers to enter their house to make such measures successful.

IANS