Spain Reports 219 Patients Infected with the Zika Virus

In Spain the number of people diagnosed with the Zika virus has increased to 219, including 37 pregnant women, according to information from the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality.

The number of cases has increased by 26 in the last eight days. All the patients, except one, had traveled to countries affected by the disease.

The health authorities confirmed the first birth of a baby with microcephaly and other malformations in Spain on July 25th, after the mother was infected with Zika and dengue during a trip to Latin America.

Doctors at the hospital Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona stated then that the baby's mother did not want an abortion, although significant brain abnormalities in the fetus were detected in May, when she was 20 weeks pregnant.

In July, the Health Ministry also reported a case of a female infected with Zika by her partner, after he made a trip to Latin America; the first case of sexual transmission of the virus in the nation.

The autonomous region of Catalonia and Madrid have the highest number of cases, 81 and 56 respectively.

In February, Spain approved a protocol for the Zika epidemic and other diseases transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.