SHEREMETYEVO (Sputnik) – Zika virus spread in Russia under control, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said on Thursday.
"We have worked out serious measures to control viruses entering Russia, so now we are monitoring so that this virus is not brought to the country. If anything happens, there are all measures to isolate [it] immediately," Golodets told reporters.
The Zika virus primarily affects monkeys and humans and is transmitted by daytime-active mosquitoes. A causal relationship between the Zika virus and neurological disorders including microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with small heads, is strongly suspected, although not yet confirmed.
The current Zika outbreak started in Brazil in spring 2015 and has spread across Latin America since then. The first case of the Zika virus in Europe was confirmed in Denmark in January, followed by Sweden and Germany.
