Peru registers first case of Zika

Peru has registered its first case of the Zika virus in a 17-year-old Venezuelan boy, the country's Health Minister Anibal Velasquez announced Friday.

The teenager, whose name has not been released, arrived in the Peruvian capital city of Lima last week from Colombia, said the minister, adding that the patient was hospitalized after showing signs of the virus including fever, rashes and joint pain, among other symptoms.

The patient is isolated in a medical center and has already received all the medical attention necessary, noted Velasquez.

The Ministry has reported the case to the Directorate of Epidemiology and the National Health Institute in order to carry out an analysis.

Zika is most commonly passed on through the "Aedes aegypti" mosquito. This mosquito also spreads dengue fever, yellow fever and chikungunya.

People infected with Zika are not affected as badly as the other viruses carried by the mosquito in terms of symptoms. However, pregnant women are at higher risk than everyone else as it could cause their child to be born with microcephaly.

Virologists say there is currently no cure for or vaccine against Zika and developing such a vaccine will surely take a long time.

The "Aedes aegypti" mosquito thrives in warm climates and reproduce in stagnant water.

Venezuela has reported 4,500 cases of potential infection. Zika virus is spreading "explosively" in the Americas, and could spread even further afield amid an "extremely high" level of alarm, said the World Health Organization (WHO) Thursday. Endit