Last month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a travel warning for those traveling to the islands of French Polynesia due to an outbreak of the viral disease, Zika fever.

In a letter to the infectious disease website, ProMED, a health official from Japan’s Disease Control and Prevention Center reports that they have seen the first imported case of Zika fever in the country in a traveler to Bora-Bora.

According to the letter from Dr. Satoshi Kutsuna, the patient is a 27-year-old man who traveled to Bora-Bora in French Polynesia for sightseeing in early December.

Last week he presented to the hospital after 4 days of fever, headache, and arthralgia and one day of rash. He had a maculopapular rash on his face, trunk, and extremities. The patient did not use insect repellent while in Bora-Bora.

Zika fever was confirmed by detection of viral RNA using real-time PCR performed at National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Kutsuna advises travelers to use insect repellents during travels to French Polynesia, and Zika fever should be considered in febrile patients with rash returning from French Polynesia.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus related to yellow fever, dengue, West Nile, and Japanese encephalitis viruses; however, ZIKV produces a comparatively mild disease in humans. It was first isolated from an infected rhesus monkey in the Zika Forest of Uganda in 1947.

Its relatively rare to see ZIKV outside of Africa and Asia.

The virus is transmitted to humans via mosquitoes of the genus Aedes.

There is currently no vaccine or medicine to prevent Zika fever. Travelers can protect themselves by preventing mosquito bites.

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