Breakthrough in Zika epidemic after Chinese scientists decode genome

Chinese scientists today said they have successfully sequenced the genome of the country's first imported Zika virus, helping with prevention and diagnosis of the mosquito-borne disease that has triggered a global health emergency.

The success was achieved by scientists with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the provincial center in east China's Jiangxi Province. China confirmed the first imported Zika case on February 9. The patient, a 34-year-old man from Jiangxi, developed a fever, headache and dizziness on January 28 in Venezuela, before returning home on February 5. He has been discharged from hospital after a full recovery.

Monday's success has laid foundation for understanding the virus' variations as well as developing bacteria and reagents to diagnose the disease, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The World Health Organisation has declared a global health emergency over the Zika virus and its suspected links to birth defects.

The virus has been reported in at least 34 countries, many of them in Central and Latin America. WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised pregnant women to consider delaying travel to Zika-infected countries.

Zika virus is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also carries dengue fever and yellow fever.