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Russia introduces control at airports to prevent spread of Zika virus

All passengers with fever, which is the first symptom, like with other diseases, are being checked

MOSCOW, January 29. /TASS/. Russia's consumer watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, introduced additional control measures at airports to prevent spread of the Zika virus in the country, the authority's head Anna Popova told reporters on Friday.

"The control is permanent," she said. "All passengers with fever, which is the first symptom, like with other diseases, are being checked."

"The sanitary and quarantine control is in force. Our epidemiology institute has developed a system for diagnostics that we hope will be registered by Roszdravnadzor [Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare]," Popova said.

The Zika virus was first isolated in 1947 in the Zika Forest of Uganda. Last May, when the virus started rapidly spreading in Brazil and then spread to other countries of South and North America, it became a topic for wider discussion. As of today, the virus has penetrated 21 out of 55 countries of the Western Hemisphere.

The virus causes high temperature, pink eye, headaches and malaise, joint pains, sometimes nausea and stomach pains and upset. Zika is transmitted by mosquitoes and has been isolated in particular from Aedes aegypti. There also are data that the virus may be transmitted from human to human during unprotected sexual contacts. The special concern of specialists is caused by data that if a woman gets infected with the virus during pregnancy, the child may have microcephaly.

Outbreaks were registered in Asia, Africa, South and North Americas, and in the Pacific region. In the western hemisphere, the disease spreads very quickly now - the virus has penetrated 21 of 55 countries, though last May the infected were registered in Brazil only.

Two cases were registered in Germany in December, 2015.

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