Following the return of test results from a clinic in Hamburg (Germany), Slovak Health Minister Viliam Čislák confirmed on Tuesday (2/3) that Slovakia has its first known carrier of the Zika virus. The patient in question is a woman who recently returned to Slovakia from South America and was treated in Prešov Hospital last week. The woman has since been released from hospital on Friday (28/2) and is quoted as being in good health, though she has been recommended by health officials not to fall pregnant or donate blood. The Zika virus is spread by mosquito bites, with the World Health Organisation announcing that the virus is linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil, however much about the virus remains unknown.
Gavin Shoebridge, Photo: AP/TASR
