Hong Kong's first Zika virus case tests negative

Reuters | Updated: Aug 27, 2016, 09:39 AM IST

Workers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department kill mosquitoes outside a construction site near a residential area in Hong Kong, China August 26, 2016, after the first case of Zika was confirmed in the city.

Zika virus was first detected in Brazil in 2015 and has since spread across the Americas

Hong Kong's first Zika virus patient tested negative for the virus on Friday and was discharged from hospital, the government said in a statement.

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On Thursday, the Centre for Health Protection had said the 38-year-old woman, who had returned to Hong Kong after spending two weeks in in the Caribbean, had tested positive. She was initially tested and admitted to hospital after suffering symptoms of joint pain and red eyes.

The statement issued late on Friday said laboratory testing of the patient's blood and urine showed negative results for the virus. It did not explain the discrepancy with results of the earlier test.

Zika was detected in Brazil in 2015 and has since spread across the Americas. The virus poses a risk to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects. It has been linked to more than 1,800 cases of microcephaly in Brazil.