The Zika virus is strongly linked to primary microcephaly. (Photo : Getty Images)
Yunnan, a southwest Chinese border province, has heightened its alertness over the Zika virus, offering 24-hour laboratory tests, according to a report by state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Lu Lin, Yunnan's Center for Disease Control and Prevention director, shared that test results can be immediately obtained after four hours.
Lu noted that the center has already investigated the risks of imported cases of the virus, emphasizing that they have done the assessment in all the province's cities and prefectures.
Yunnan borders Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos.
Earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international health emergency as it found that the virus has been rapidly spreading, especially in the Americas, for the past 12-month period.
China's National Health and Family Planning Commission has also confirmed the first case of Zika virus in the country.
The 34-year-old male patient has been receiving treatments in a local hospital in his hometown in the Ganxian County of Jiangxi Province. Reports said that he has fully recovered.
The man, said to be working in Dongguan, a bustling manufacturing city in Guangdong, returned from Venezuela via Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Prior to his return, he has exhibited the symptoms of the Zika virus such as headache, fever and dizziness.
Research fellow Li Dexin from the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention stressed that the virus, spread through mosquito bites, is spreading not only in South America but also in other Southeastern Asian countries.
Bernhard Schwartlander, a WHO envoy, also pointed out that imported Zika virus cases are to be expected, citing the large volume of travelers going to and from South America and China.
Since the news of the virus's rapid spread, Chinese health authorities have been intensifying their efforts to implement strict quarantine checks.
The stepped-up inspections come in light of the influx of returning travelers who flew abroad during the Lunar New Year celebration.
Guangdong and Shenzhen, both located in southern China, have earlier committed to heightening their initiatives on the early detection of illnesses related to mosquito bites.
