Spain reports first known European case of Zika

Madrid: Spain on Thursday confirmed that a pregnant woman has contracted the Zika virus, the first such known European case.

The pregnant woman had returned from Colombia had been diagnosed with the Zika virus.

Aedes aegypti mosquitos photographed in a laboratory at the University of El Salvador, in San Salvador, on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

One of the patients diagnosed in (the northeastern region of) Catalonia is a pregnant woman, who showed symptoms after having travelled to Colombia," the health ministry said, adding she is one of seven cases in Spain and all are in good condition.

Zika, which is spreading through the Americas, has been linked to babies being born with underdeveloped brains.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the microcephaly condition, linked to the mosquito-borne virus, a global public health emergency.