Cuba detects 15th imported case of Zika

A Cuban woman who recently returned from Venezuela has been confirmed to be the 15th imported case of Zika on the island, the Public Health Ministry (Minsap) announced Friday.

The patient, 67, who lives in the town of Guanabacoa near Havana, arrived in Cuba on May 31 from Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, according a press release of Minsap.

Four days after her return, the woman began presenting symptoms of fever and a rash, as well as muscle and joint pain.

She was admitted to the Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute, with tests confirming she had contracted Zika.

According to Minsap, she "remains hospitalized with light symptoms, with no fever, in a good general condition and recovering well."

Cuba detected its first Zika case on March 2, with 15 imported cases being reported to date. Only one case contracted domestically has been reported, involving a young woman in Havana who had never travelled abroad.

Despite these few cases, Cuba is determined to keep Zika, which has now been detected in over 30 countries in the region, at bay.

Minsap, in collaboration with the army and police, is carrying out weekly fumigation campaigns in urban and rural areas, in order to stop the proliferation of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, Zika's main carrier. Endit