China monitors potential infection after reporting 3rd Zika case

HANGZHOU - The entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureau in east China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday said that it was conducting epidemiological studies and sampling 32 travellers a day after the province reported China's third Zika patient.

It was confirmed on Friday that a 38-year-old man, who had traveled to the city of Yiwu in Zhejiang on Feb 15 from Fiji and Samoa, had the virus, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

The patient developed a fever and had been bitten by mosquitos.

None of the 32 people that traveled with the patient have developed any related symptoms so far.

The bureau advised pregnant women against travelling to countries with Zika outbreaks, as the virus is suspected by medical experts to be linked to microcephaly among newborns.

Symptoms of the Zika virus, which spreads to people through mosquito bites, include fever, joint pain, a rash, conjunctivitis, headache and muscle pain.

Disease prevention experts said the risk of the spread of the virus was low due to the current low temperature which inhibits mosquito activity.

China's first Zika patient was discharged from hospital on Sunday after a full recovery. The second case, also imported, was detected in southern province of Guangdong on Feb 15.