Zika cases in Switzerland on rise

The Swiss authorities have recorded 28 cases of infection by the mosquito-borne Zika virus since the beginning of the year, up from 16 cases at the beginning of May, local newspaper Tribune de Geneve reported Monday.

All of the individuals had previously travelled to areas affected by the virus transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which has created pandemics in regions including but not limited to the South and Central America as well as the Caribbean.

The report indicated that the whereabouts of 18 infection cases out of the 28 reported ones had been identified.

Citing a report from the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), the newspaper said that among them, four had travelled to the Dominican Republic, three to Colombia and Martinique, two to Brazil and Bolivia.

The number of infections could be much higher however as data reveals that only around one in four infected individuals develop symptoms which include fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis.

Though rarely fatal, Zika presents a risk for pregnant women and their unborn babies as the causal relationship between microcephaly and other severe foetal brain defects have been confirmed.

First isolated in 1947 from a monkey in Uganda, the Zika virus was limited for decades to a narrow equatorial belt stretching across Africa and Asia, rarely affecting humans.

In 2007, the virus breached its geographical range as the first documented outbreak was recorded in the Pacific islands.

The situation since has drastically changed. In 2015, the mosquito-borne virus was detected in the Americas with Brazil reporting its first case in May last year. Endite