South Korea confirms first Zika case

South Korea has confirmed its first case of the Zika virus, in a man who had recently returned from Brazil. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention said the 43-year-old was diagnosed on Tuesday and was being treated in Gwangju city.

The Zika virus is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito

Zika, a mosquito-borne virus, has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization. It has spread rapidly in Brazil and the Americas, and is suspected of causing birth defects.


But WHO experts caution the link between the virus and microcephaly  in which babies are born with underdeveloped heads  is not yet proven.Isolated Zika infections have been reported in a handful of countries in Asia.

South Korea said the infected man had been quarantined and his movements tracked since returning home, according to the Yonhap news agency.