After Singapore confirmed the case of Zika in the country, the virus has been reported has spread in its neighboring country, including the Philippines. The Philippines confirmed the first case of Zika as a woman in Iloilo was tested positive for Zika virus, on Monday, Sept. 5.

A 45-year-old woman from Iloilo city was tested positive for Zika, according to the local news site, Rappler. This case was the first reported local transmission in the country. The woman is married, and is not pregnant.

"On August 31, she presented with skin rash and joint pains not accompanied by fever. She was confined in a local hospital where urine and blood were collected," Secretary Paulyn Ubial said on Monday.

The woman was sent home and now recovering from her very mild illness, Ubial confirmed.

Later in the afternoon, the secretary explained the cause of Zika. She said, since the woman has no history of travel to any affected country in the past two weeks, this case was most likely due to local transmission.

The DOH Undersecretary Eric Tayag also explained what local transmission means during the press conference. He said, if a patient gets the infection right now, it means you hadn't travel in the Zika zone country.

On Saturday, Sept. 3, Singapore's Ministry of Health said that scientists who studied the sequence of Singapore's Zika virus outbreak learned that the strain is likely not came from Brazil.

In the study, the virus of the two patients belongs to the Asian lineage and it evolved from the strain that started circulating in the South Asia, a health official confirmed in weekend. Currently, the total number of Zika cases rouse to 242, Fortune reported.

Although there is a study done by some scientists, some experts said it is too early to tell the origin of Zika in Sinagpore.

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Topics Zika