The University Hospital at Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city, has reported one of the first cases of the Zika virus in Europe. The patient was a man in his mid-twenties, who recently travelled to Mexico and Brazil.
Hospital authorities revealed that he experienced fever, headaches and muscle pain but is already recovering and poses no threat of spreading the disease in the country. "His condition is good, he is recovering and he will be released from the hospital soon," Lars Ostergaard, a professor at the facility, told Reuters.
Earlier, the Danish case, which was only revealed Tuesday, was believed to be the first individual patient to test positive for the Zika virus in Europe. However, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control based in Stockholm reported that there are already previously confirmed infections in Germany and the U.K., according to The New York Times. The initial confusion in the reporting can be attributed to the fact that the virus is not a notifiable disease in the European Union, which means that member countries are not required to notify the ECDC about reported cases, ABC News reported.
While there is nothing dramatic about the disease's symptoms, Zika virus is being blamed for brain damage in South American countries. It is related to the dengue and chikungunya viruses that cause fever and rash.
