Dhaka, March 22 (IANS) Bangladesh on Tuesday reported the country’s first case of the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne disease that has been linked to birth defects and other health issues.
Zahid Malik, Bangladesh’s state minister for health, told journalists on Tuesday that the trace of the Zika virus was detected within a blood sample taken in 2014 from a sexagenarian whose name has not been disclosed, Xinhua news agency reported.
Malik said in 2013 and 2014 Bangladesh health officials collected blood samples of some patients infected with other diseases like dengue fever.
“Recently traces of Zika virus have been detected in one of those blood samples,” he said and the patient with Zika virus disease is undergoing treatment at a hospital.
Meanwhile, he mentioned that blood samples of some 159 people who had intimacy with the victim were tested negative for Zika transmission.