Zika spreading rapidly, China confirms first case

China’s first case of the Zika virus has been found in a 34-year-old man who recently traveled to Venezuela and is now making a speedy recovery, the government said Wednesday.

China’s first case of the Zika virus has been found in a 34-year-old man who recently traveled to Venezuela and is now making a speedy recovery, the government said Wednesday.

A military truck carries out fumigation in a neighborhood to stop the breeding of the dengue mosquito in Havana February 9, 2016. (REUTERS)

The man from the southern city of Ganzhou had been treated in Venezuela on Jan. 28 before returning home on Feb. 5 via Hong Kong and the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement.

The commission said he had been confirmed as having the Zika virus on Tuesday and was being treated at the Ganxian People’s Hospital. His temperature is now normal and a skin rash is receding, the statement said.

It said the chances of the virus spreading in China were “extremely low” due to cold winter temperatures and a lack of mosquito activity, the primary avenue by which Zika spreads.

The Zika virus is spreading rapidly through Latin America. Most people who contract it have either mild or no symptoms, but it is suspected of causing a birth defect that results in babies born with abnormally small heads.