Fourth Zika virus case confirmed in South Korea

South Korean authorities on Saturday confirmed the fourth Zika virus case in the country in a woman who recently returned from a trip to Vietnam, the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said on Saturday.

The 25-year-old woman worked in Ho Chi Minh City from April 10 to April 30 and entered South Korea on May 1, said the KCDC.

She visited a hospital in the western port city of Incheon on May 4 to treat a chronic thyroid gland problem after having rash and joint pain and was diagnosed with the mosquito-borne virus, Xinhua news agency reported.

The KCDC suspected that she might have been bitten by a mosquito while in the Southeast Asian nation, noting that the patient is currently in stable condition.

Health authorities are also examining a person who met with the woman in Vietnam between April 13 to April 17 for potential transmission of the virus.

The latest case raises the number of confirmed infections in South Korea to four.

The first South Korean Zika case was found from a 43-year-old man on March 22.

The other two Zika cases were confirmed on April 27 and April 29 respectively, from two brothers who had travelled to the Philippines together.

--IANS

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