Person In Denmark Tests Positive For Zika Virus

One person in Denmark has tested positive for the Zika virus, according to the national news agency Ritzau.

Health authorities from Denmark said the patient travelled to South and Central America where the disease has taken hold.

There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika, which has been linked to brain damage in thousands of babies in Brazil. 

It comes as three UK travellers have been diagnosed with the disease, the mosquito-borne disease linked to severe birth defects.

The Britons travelled in Colombia, Suriname and Guyana, although it is not clear whether they have returned to the UK or if any of the three are pregnant women.

The condition prevents babies' brains from developing properly and six people have so far tested positive for the virus in Hawaii, although all are understood to have been infected outside the US.

Concerns about the disaese led the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue a travel warning advising women to postpone their visits to 14 countries and territories in the Caribbean and Latin America where infection with Zika is a risk.

The travel alert applies to Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

Last week a baby born with microcephaly in Hawaii became the first newborn to test positive for the Zika virus on US soil. It is understood the mother contracted the virus while in Brazil. 

(Sky News)