Resident in Malta tests positive for Zika after visiting Nicaragua

Maltese Ministry for Health said on Friday that a 28-year-old European woman residing in Malta has tested positive for Zika this week after returned from Nicaragua, a Zika-affected country.

In a statement, the ministry said that the woman has been admitted to Mater Dei hospital in an isolated area and is in a good condition. She is single and lives alone.

This is the second case of Zika which has been imported to Malta from an affected country with the first case being in January this year and which was widely reported in the local press.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, the health authorities took immediate actions through an interministerial committee made up of a number of entities.

This week a team of experts from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control was in fact in Malta to further support Malta's response plan to the Zika situation.

According to the World Health Organisation countries in the Mediterranean region have a moderate risk for Zika.

It also said that the local Aedes albopictus, one of the types of Aedes mosquitos which can transmit the Zika virus, and which is the only Aedes mosquito prevalent in Malta, is not infected with the Zika virus. Mosquito surveillance is carried out together with the University of Malta.

The health authority also reminded people travelling to affected areas to take necessary precautions to prevent being bitten by mosquitoes. Endit