Accessibility links

Breaking News

Vietnam Confirms First Zika Virus Cases


FILE - This photo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Aedes aegypti mosquito.
FILE - This photo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Vietnam has confirmed its first two cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

The Health Ministry said Tuesday a 64-year-old woman in the popular beach resort of Nha Trang, and a 33-year-old woman in Ho Chi Minh tested positive for the Zika virus in late March, after they were both hospitalized with fevers, eye strain and rashes.

State media says the 33-year-old woman is pregnant. Both women are said to be in stable condition.

Most Zika cases are mild and many victims never show any symptoms.

But the virus is suspected of causing pregnant women to give birth to babies affected by microcephaly -- a birth defect in which babies have unusually-small heads and brains.

Brazil, which has been hardest-hit by Zika, has reported more than 4,000 cases of microcephaly since October.

The World Health Organization has declared the Zika outbreak an international health emergency.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG