Health ministry provides update on RoK Zika case
The General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health on May 9 received additional information on a woman from the RoK who tested positive for the Zika virus after visiting Vietnam.
 |
The patient is reported to work at the Korea International School at No. 21 Tan Phu, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City and resided in the district’s Sky Garden 2 urban area from April 10 to April 30.
According to the Vietnamese department, the 25-year-old woman got a rash on April 28 after being bitten by mosquitoes. She returned to the RoK on May 1 and tested positive on May 7 when she visited the Catholic University of Korea Incheon St. Mary’s hospital in the western city of Incheon.
The woman is suspected to have contracted Zika in Vietnam as the country found one of two Zika cases in Thanh My Loi commune, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City in early April.
The Vietnamese health ministry has directed the HCM City’s Pasteur Institute and Department of Health to inspect the case while implementing anti-disease measures where the patient worked and lived.
The ministry confirmed it would work with its Korean counterpart to investigated the incident.
People are warned to take measures to protect themselves from mosquito bites and spray chemicals to eliminate mosquitoes and larvae.
People coming and going from Zika-hit regions need to keep an eye on their health for 12 days after leaving the region. If there are any disease symptoms, the patients should report to health workers to receive examination and treatment, the ministry said.
