Spanish Ministry for Health to update cases of zika virus confirmed by National Microbiology Centre on weekly basis

So far, seven people have been diagnosed with an infection caused by this virus - all of them after visiting affected countries, meaning they are imported cases. Three of the patients are in Catalonia, two are in Castile-Leon, one is in Murcia and one is in Madrid. All of them are in a good condition and their situation is not serious.

One of the patients diagnosed in Catalonia is a pregnant woman, who showed symptoms after having travelled to Colombia. The patient, who is in her second trimester, remains under medical supervision.

The cases of zika virus diagnosed to date in Spain fall within the forecasts made by epidemiologists and there is no risk of the virus spreading in Spain because they are all imported cases.

The Ministry for Health, Social Services and Equality is working in conjunction with the regional governments to gather information on all these cases, oversee the monitoring of all patients and draw up a joint action protocol that, once having passed the technical stage on Thursday, is expected to be approved on 10 February at the Public Health Commission.