China's first patient infected with the Zika virus has been discharged from the hospital after being cured of the infection, medics at the Ganxian County People's Hospital announced.

Like Us on Facebook

According to the director of infectious disease department of the hospital, Deng Yichu, the patient's blood and urine nucleic acid tests yielded negative results. They reportedly forwarded the findings to medicine and disease control authorities at city and provincial levels, who further reported the results to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. The commission then gave its approval for the patient to be discharged from the hospital. 

The patient has been undergoing treatment since Feb. 6.

The 34-year-old man was the first imported case of the Zika virus in China. He began manifesting clinical symptoms of the virus including fever, dizziness and headache on Jan. 28, during his visit in a South American country. Before returning to his hometown in Ganxian County in the province of Jaingxi, he also went to Hong Kong and Shenzhen. 

Since his return to China, he has been placed under stringent medical surveillance. His recent discharge shows that a series of tests and treatments can cure the virus. 

However, the virus is still prevalent in South America and the Caribbean, with Brazil reported as the most severely affected area. The World Health Organization has declared Zika virus an international health emergency following its reported possible link with an abnormal defect known as microcephaly, a condition characterized by a small head that results in developmental problems.

Tagschina, Zika virus, Zika virus in China, World Health Organization