Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

The Zika virus has spread to Scotland, infecting an ‘undisclosed’ number of people

Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitos (PA)
Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitos (PA)

A number of people in Scotland have been diagnosed as having the Zika virus, it has been confirmed.

The Scottish Government stressed that the disease, which has sparked a major health alert in South America, “does not pose a public health risk” in Scotland, but said an undisclosed number of cases had been found.

More than 50 people across the UK have been treated for the infection, which is associated with a birth defect called microcephaly, which results in children being born with abnormally small heads and brain damage.

A transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of the Zika virus (Cynthia Goldsmith/CDC/PA)
A transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of the Zika virus (Cynthia Goldsmith/CDC/PA)

While pregnant women are being advised to postpone non-essential travel to disease hotspots, the NHS stresses that for “most people it is a very mild infection and isn’t harmful”.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We can assure the public that Zika does not pose a public health risk in Scotland, and of the cases identified in the UK a very small number have been found in Scotland.

“The mosquito that spreads the virus is not found in the UK, and in any case would not be able to establish in Scotland because of our climate. Zika cannot be spread through person-to-person or airborne contact.”

He added: “We have already informed the at-risk groups about the risks and how to protect themselves through Health Protection Scotland’s travel advice. We continue to closely monitor developments in our understanding of the Zika virus as treatments and testing regimes develop.”


READ MORE

Man who has suffered two mosquito-borne viruses warns of Zika virus at Rio Olympics

Scots Zika doctor says he owes his career to a rollicking at school from a future House of Lords peer

//