The husband of the pregnant woman from Taman Desa Harmoni, Johor Baru who was infected with the Zika virus recently, has also been confirmed to be infected with the virus.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the man, aged 25, who only had rash symptoms on Sept 2 was confirmed to be the fourth person in the country to test positive for the Zika virus.

"The patient had been admitted to a hospital in Johor for further checks," he said in a statement today.

On Sept 7, the wife was confirmed to have been infected with the virus after being treated in a government hospital in Johor when experiencing symptoms of rash, body aches and fever.

According to Noor Hisham, checks by the Health Ministry found the man commuted daily to work in Singapore and had no other close encounters in Malaysia apart from his mother-in-law and his wife.

Noor Hisham said the ministry had already conducted vector control activities in the residential area and places, which had been visited by the patients.

"A total of 445 houses were checked, 95 premises had ‘larvasiding’ done, 203 premises were sprayed with thermal spray and 807 premises underwent Ultra Low Volume (ULV) spray.

"The Aedes breeding rate in the locality shows the area still has a population of Aedes mosquitoes," he said.

However, according to him, Active Case Detection had already been conducted at the locality of the patients' residence and found no one else with symptoms of Zika.

The first case reported in the country was that of a 58-year-old woman from Klang, Selangor while the second case involved a local man in Sabah, which was a locally-transmitted case.

Noor Hisham said from Sept 1-7, the ministry found, there were at least 39 cases who had the symptoms of the virus but the test results were negative.

He said, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an infected man with Zika should practice safe sex or avoid sex altogether for a period of six months from the date of the diagnosis.

"If the man were to have a partner who is pregnant and who frequently visited areas with Zika infection, then sexual intercourse should be avoided during pregnancy to avoid complications of microcephaly to the unborn child," he explained.

According to him, the public should practice personal protection from mosquito bites by using repellent and wear bright clothing.

In conjunction with the Aidiladha celebration, the public is also reminded to keep their homes and offices free of mosquito breeding grounds.

- Bernama