Health Ministry confirms first local Zika infection in Malaysia

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the patient, a 61-year-old man in Taman Public Jaya Likas, had developed fever on Aug 27 and sought medical attention for the first time in Luyang Health Clinic on Aug 30.

"On Aug 31, the patient had sought further treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) 2 when he experienced worsening fever, muscle aches and diarrhea," he said in a statement today.

Dr Noor Hisham said the patient also has other comorbidities, whereby he is suffering from high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, chronic kidney disease, kidney stones and gout.

"Due to his multiple illnesses, the patient's condition was quite serious when he was first seen in hospital's emergency and trauma department.

"Although the test results from the Public Health Laboratory showed that the blood and urine samples of the patient were tested positive for Zika, his serious clinical condition is perhaps due to his existing comorbidities and not primarily due to the Zika infection," he said.

He added that investigation showed that the patient has not travelled abroad recently and his infection was probably locally-transmitted – bitten by a Zika-infected Aedes mosquito.

On Thursday, the ministry had confirmed a Malaysian woman in Klang to be the first in the country to be infected with the virus after returning from Singapore last month.