DOH probing if Korean patient contracted Zika in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Health (DOH) is cooperating with the South Korean government to determine if a Zika patient in the neighboring Southeast Asian country contracted the virus in the Philippines or in some other country.

Health Secretary Janette Garin said Korean officials have informed her office that they had no known Aedes aegypti mosquito cases.

It appeared that the latest Zika case in Korea had traveled to the Philippines with his sibling.

“We are looking at the timeline. If they traveled only to the Philippines, it is highly possible that they got infected here.  It could not yet be confirmed if they went somewhere else before and after coming here,” Garin said.

She added that if it will be confirmed that the Korean contracted the virus here, it would be the Philippines’ “second exported case and the third confirmed case.”