The Zika virus, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) only yesterday declared a worldwide public health emergency, has now arrived in Ireland, HSE officials have informed.
In a statement released last night, the organisation said that it was informed yesterday of two unrelated cases of the virus, making them the first confirmed cases in the country. Both affected parties in Ireland had travelled to a Zika-affected country and neither is at risk of pregnancy, the HSE said. Both adults are also said to now be fully recovered from the virus.
Zika, a mosquito-borne virus, has swept through countries in South and Central America recently, and although rarely fatal, there has been an exponential rise in cases of a rare birth defect in Brazil thought to be linked to the virus.
WHO estimates that there could be up to four million cases of Zika in the Americas in the next year, and has advised pregnant women to avoid travelling to affected countries and the Department of Foreign Affairs has issued a travel advisory for the areas.
The news last night of cases in Ireland comes as health officials in the US confirmed that a patient in Texas has acquired the Zika virus through sexual transmission.
According to US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and Dallas County Health and Human Services the patient was infected after having sexual contact with an ill person who returned from a country where Zika was present.
Here in Ireland the HSE are strongly urging anyone who feels ill after travelling back from an affected country to contact their GP immediately and inform them of their recent travel history.
