MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. Several more Russians are suspected to have contracted the Zika virus, the country’s chief sanitary doctor who heads Rospotrebnadzor consumer rights watchdog Anna Popova told reporters on Thursday.
The watchdog earlier said it was confirmed that four Russians who came back home from abroad have been infected with the Zika virus. "Today we have several more people who are suspected [of having contracted the virus]. This is a permanent situation, it is inevitable and will continue."
The number of Russians who have visited the countries affected by Zika is growing, Popova said. If they feel sick upon the arrival, their health is monitored by doctors. A system of sanitary and quarantine control has been introduced in Russia and some 5 million people who have arrived from epidemic-prone countries have been screened, she 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. At the moment, outbreaks have been registered in Asia, Africa, in South and North America and in the Pacific region. Medical professionals note special concern for infected pregnant women, whose children risk developing brain-damaging microcephaly.