The news a 28 year-old man is the first confirmed case of the Zika virus in Henan Province in central China, the birthplace of Chinese civilization, is the latest in a creeping pattern of infection that began with the first confirmed case in China last February.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, an agency of the Ministry of Health, confirmed on Sept. 12 this unidentified man was infected by the Zika virus. What is known is this man returned from Guatemala last week after a two-month stay in that Central American country.

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An airport checkpoint health screening raised a red flag about this man, who was then sent to a hospital specializing in infectious diseases and placed in quarantine. The man developed symptoms of Zika such as fever, headache, skin rash and sore throat. He's now stable, however.

China's health authorities are preparing for Zika spreading in China. The hope is this spread won't be proportionally as fast as the episode in Singapore where the first Zika case was confirmed on Aug. 27 and the 242nd case by Sept. 5.

Of this total number, 30 are Chinese nationals.

Dozens of mainland residents in Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Zhejiang have been confirmed with Zika, which they contracted while abroad.

The Zika virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. It causes only mild symptoms such as fever, rashes or joint pain for most people and four out of five of those infected exhibit no symptoms.

The virus, however, is believed to have contributed to an increase in cases of the birth defect called microcephaly in Brazil and other parts of the Americas.

From 2007 to 2016, the virus spread eastward across the Pacific Ocean to the Americas, leading to the 2015-16 Zika virus epidemic. Zika has been detected in 67 countries and territories and is spreading worldwide.

The widespread epidemic of Zika fever caused by the Zika virus continues in the Americas and the Pacific. The outbreak began in early 2015 in Brazil, then spread to other parts of South and North America.

Last January, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the virus was likely to spread throughout most of the Americas by the end of the year. In February, WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern as evidence grew that Zika can cause birth defects and neurological problems.

The virus can be transmitted from an infected pregnant woman to her fetus, and can cause microcephaly and other severe brain anomalies in the infant.

TagsZika virus, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, china, Aedes Aegypti mosquito, Henan, 2015-16 Zika virus epidemic