February 10, 2016
A pregnant woman in south-east Queensland has been diagnosed with the Zika virus.
The woman was diagnosed on Tuesday after recently returning from overseas.
A Queensland Health spokesperson emphasised this was not a locally acquired case of the virus.
Health experts have recommended that overseas travellers should read advice about their destination country before travelling.
The Federal Government has recommended that until more is known about Zika virus, women who are pregnant (in any trimester) or those actively seeking to get pregnant should consider postponing travel to any area where Zika virus transmission is ongoing.
Women who are pregnant and have recently travelled to areas where there is ongoing Zika virus transmission and suffered an illness that they think might be Zika should see a doctor.
Full details of the relevant countries are available on the Smart Traveller website
Experts have linked Zika to a cluster of cases of microcephaly (underdeveloped brains) in new-born babies in South America, although the links had not been proven.
Queensland Health has also confirmed the Gold Coast woman who contracted the disease after returning from El Salvador, originally contracted Zika in 2015.
Current figures are seven confirmed cases in 2014, four confirmed cases in 2015 and two confirmed cases in 2016. None of the cases were locally acquired.
- External link: Queensland Health statistics
