South Korea detects first Zika virus case

2006 Prof. Frank Hadley Collins, Dir., Cntr. for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, Univ. of Notre Dame This 2006 photograph depicted a female Aedes aegypti mosquito while she was in the process of acquiring a blood meal from her human host, who in this instance, was actually the biomedical photographer, James Gathany, here at the Centers for Disease Control. You’ll note the feeding apparatus consisting of a sharp, “fascicle”, which while not feeding, is covered in a soft, pliant sheath called the "labellum”, which is seen here retracted, as the sharp “stylets” contained within pierced the host's skin surface, as the insect obtained its blood meal. The fascicle is composed of a pair of needle-sharp stylets. The larger of the two stylets, known as the "labrum", when viewed in cross-section takes on the shape of an inverted "V", and acts as a gutter, which directs the ingested host blood towards the insect's mouth. This female’s abdomen had become distended due to the blood meal she was ingesting, imparting the red coloration to her translucent abdominal exoskeleton. The first reported epidemics of Dengue (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) occurred in 1779-1780 in Asia, Africa, and North America. The near simultaneous occurrence of outbreaks on three continents indicates that these viruses and their mosquito vector have had a worldwide distribution in the tropics for more than 200 years. During most of this time, DF was considered a mild, nonfatal disease of visitors to the tropics. Generally, there were long intervals (10-40 years) between major epidemics, mainly because the introduction of a new serotype in a susceptible population occurred only if viruses and their mosquito vector, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, could survive the slow transport between population centers by sailing vessels.

South Korean authorities have detected the first Zika virus case in the country, the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Tuesday.

A 43-year-old man, who had made business trips to Brazil between February 17 and March 11, was tested positive for the mosquito-borne virus, Xinhua news agency quoted the agency as saying.

The patient began developing fever and muscle ache from March 16.

Zika is known as a virus that spreads through bites from a specific mosquito. It is particularly risky for pregnant women as the virus is thought to be linked to a rare birth defect, microcephaly.

Microcephaly causes newborn babies to have an unusually small, damaged brain.