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Kaohsiung reports 2017's first confirmed foreign borne Zika case.

Center of Disease Control (CDC) reports the Kaohsiung's first confirmed foreign borne Zika case in 2017. The patient is a 15-year-old male from Linyuan District and is the second reported foreign-borne Zika case in Taiwan this year. The individual and his mother and sister left for Vietnam's Dong Nai province for a family visit on 6/30 and returned on 7/11 at 10 pm through Kaohsiung International Airport, and his blood sample was taken by the disease control personnel because of his fever. He received medical evaluation the next morning, on the 12th. The individual had fever, rash and red eyes, prompting the hospital to report the case on the 13th as potentially Zika or Dengue, and CDC confirmed the case as a Zika infection on the 14th. Currently the patient is still under treatment, the fever has eased and he is fully conscious, and the two accompanying family members are asymptomatic and their health status has been closely monitored by the relevant public health agency. 

Kaohsiung's Department of Health said adult Zika infection is usually mild but infants of infected pregnant women can suffer from a birth defect called microcephaly which is abnormal smallness of the head. DOH urges clinics in Kaohsiung to remind pregnant and soon to be pregnant women to avoid Zika epidemic areas like Central and South America, Vietnam, and Singapore. If one must travel to those countries, it's best to dress in light-colored long sleeves and pants, spray insect repellent approved by Ministry of Health and Welfare on exposed skins, and stay in air conditioned residence equipped with screened windows and doors. After your travel to high-risk areas, you should follow the "1+6 rule" — do not donate blood for at least 1 month and delay pregnancy for at least 6 months. Additional you're advised to practice safe sex with condoms whether you've symptoms or not and continue to protect yourself from mosquito bites for at least another 3 weeks.