Europe on Zika virus alert after new cases reported in Denmark and Switzerland

Denmark and Switzerland on Wednesday joined a growing number of European countries to report Zika infections among travellers returning from Latin America. Health authorities in Denmark said the patient travelled to South and Central America where the disease has taken hold and is linked to brain damage in thousands of babies. The young man was expected to make a full recovery, they added. Two people returning to Switzerland from Haiti and Colombia have also been diagnosed with the virus. Neither was pregnant and neither required hospital care, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health said.

But I think its important for us to understand that there are going to be imported cases of Zika to the United States and we won’t be surprised if we start to see some local transmission of the virus

CDC spokesman Tom Skinner, after a case in Hawaii

There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, a flu-like disease with a rash that goes unnoticed in 70 to 80% of cases. But in pregnant women, it is thought to prevent their unborn babies’ brains from developing properly. Six people have so far tested positive for the virus in Hawaii but concern is growing over the scale of infections in Europe. The Netherlands has seen ten cases and there have been five in Britain. Four cases were recorded In Italy in March 2015, while in Portugal, four people had been infected. One woman in the Swedish capital Stockholm was diagnosed with the virus in July 2015. In Moscow, health minister Veronika Skvortsova said the Russian authorities were monitoring Zika cases. She added: "Now we are working on controlling it as soon as any strange strains appear … to have domestic medication for prevention and treatment.“

We need to pay attention to this … work with transportation companies, airlines, understand the signs and react quickly. Of course mosquitoes cannot fly over the ocean, but infected people can and do.

Russia president Vladimir Putin

Zika virus