The number of Zika cases on the Chinese mainland climbed to 12 on Monday following the reports from Guangdong Province of the discovery of two new cases, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.

The latest cases involved a 47-year-old father and his 6-year-old daughter. The report said the two tested positive for the virus in Enping City, in Southern China's Guangdong Province.

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In a statement, the provincial health and family planning commission in Guangdong said the father and his daughter arrived from the high-risk country of Venezuela on 3 March

It was already on 5 March when the two developed symptoms of fever and skin rash. They rushed to the hospital for medical checkup and told doctors about their trip. They were later confirmed to have contracted the Zika virus.

The Xinhua report said the two are now undergoing treatment in a Guangdong hospital and are in stable condition.

All of the 12 Zika cases recorded on the Chinese mainland were imported infections, authorities said.

The provincial health and family planning commission is expecting the number of Zika cases to increase in the coming month as a large number of Chinese is returning home from infected nations.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine earlier said Chinese coming from affected regions should declare themselves to the quarantine staff when entering China as part of a tightened quarantine measure against the virus.

The administration said those who manifest symptoms such as fever, joint pain, rash, conjunctivitis, headache, and muscle pain should declare themselves to the quarantine staff upon entry.

Zika test kits are available in entry and exit quarantine areas in China as part of the preventive measures, the authority said.

Health authorities also called for the thorough clean up of public venues, bus stations, markets and residential communities to get rid of mosquito breeding grounds.

TagsZika, Zika virus, Zika China