A FILIPINA from Iloilo has been found positive for the mosquito-borne Zika virus, the sixth in the country, Health Undersecretary Gerardo Bayugo said Monday.
He said the latest victim was married and in her mid-forties, and that she tested positive for the virus when she was examined.
He made his statement even as Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said no Filipinos had been infected with the Zika virus in Singapore.
“As per the latest report of our embassy in Singapore, no Filipinos in Singapore have been infected with the Zika virus,” Jose said.
The embassy said 200 people in Singapore had been infected with the virus.
The virus is mild and non-fatal, but a woman who is infected during pregnancy is in danger of having a baby with a small head and a defective brain, a condition called microcephaly.
The first case of Zika virus infection in the Philippines was recorded in 2012. The virus then resurfaced in March after an American tourist tested positive for it after visiting the Philippines.
Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial is discouraging Filipinos from traveling to Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Thailand, where many people have been infected by the Zika virus.
Ubial says a traveler infected with the Zika virus should practice safe sex since the virus stays in the blood for six months. The virus can also be transmitted through blood transfusion.