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ZIKA

First confirmed case of Zika virus in Austria

Austrian health officials have confirmed that the country has its first imported case of the Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects.

Published: 28 January 2016 11:52 CET
First confirmed case of Zika virus in Austria
Aedes (yellow fever) mosquito. Photo: Muhammad Mahdi Karim/Wikimedia

A woman who had travelled to Brazil has been diagnosed with the mosquito-borne disease, Prof. Ursula Wiedermann-Schmidt, Head of the Institute of Tropical Medicine at Vienna University, told Ö1 radio.

Zika is linked to babies being born with underdeveloped brains and has caused panic in Brazil, where thousands of people have been infected. It is spreading through the Americas.

Prof. Pamela Rendi-Wagner from the Institute of Tropical Medicine told the Kurier newspaper that the woman had shown “mild symptoms of the Zika virus after returning from Brazil” and that a blood test had now confirmed that she does have the disease.

She is not pregnant, and is expected to make a full recovery. Rendi-Wagner stressed that there is no risk of infection in Austria, as the virus is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito which is not native to Austria.

Zika symptoms in adults and children include flu-like aches, inflammation of the eyes, joint pain and rashes, although some people have no symptoms at all.

Pregnant women have been advised not to travel to areas affected by Zika.

ZIKA

First pregnant woman in Austria tests positive for Zika

A pregnant woman from Salzburg was diagnosed with the Zika virus this May, following her return from a vacation in the Dominican Republic.

Published: 5 October 2016 08:57 CEST
First pregnant woman in Austria tests positive for Zika
Canwest News/Wikimedia
After coming back to Austria, the expectant mother came down with a fever, joint pain and also suffered a rash. Her reported symptoms were consistent with Zika’s onset, which has allegedly spread beyond the point of origin of its most recent outbreak in South and Central America. 
 
Confirmed by Austria’s Ministry of Health, their spokesman from the Department of Infectious Diseases, Bernhard Benka stated that the patient is currently under observation. The organization has reported 25 individual cases since the first was diagnosed in January of this year, yet this is the first which could affect an unborn child.
 
Infected pregnant women are most deeply affected by the virus due to its high risk of causing birth defects that are only detectable post-partum. The most severe effects cause the child to be born with a form of microcephaly, a syndrome denoted by an abnormally small skull, heavy cognitive impairment and other developmental issues. 
 
Of the 13 Austrian women and 12 Austrian men who came back from holiday in locations ranging from the Caribbean to southern Central America to Bali, all diagnosed national cases have so far been successfully treated. However, the ministry has warned that the virus is still spreadable as an STD and recommends that men who have visited any of the affected areas make sure to use protection for up to six months after their return.
 
Professor Dr. Herwig Kollaritisch from the Institute of Tropical Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna told Salzburger Nachrichten that the chances of a Zika epidemic occurring in Austria are slim. “This country doesn’t have any mosquitoes that would spread the virus.” Conditions for it to spread via sexual transmission are also too insufficient to cause concern.