Cuba health officials announced Wednesday that the country has their first Zika virus case.

The patient is a 28-year-old Venezuelan doctor whose husband and brother-in-law previously had Zika virus infection in their country. When the patient arrived last month on Feb. 21, she had a rash and a high fever, which put her under medical quarantine.

The woman is a post-doctoral student in gastroenterology and came to Cuba with other post-graduates. According to The Guardian, the patient's first Zika test was negative but the second test, which was given on Feb. 28, was positive. The woman is still hospitalized in Havana and the others who were with her remain quarantined but have no signs of the Zika infection.

Cuban President Raul Castro announced last month that he is sending 9,000 troops, as well as 200 police officers, to help eradicate the mosquito that carries Zika virus. Their mosquito eradication efforts involve fumigating neighborhoods and physically destroying the breeding grounds of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which is also the carrier of Dengue and Yellow fever.

"At this time, it is imperative that all citizens and entities strictly comply with sanitation norms and measures adopted to guarantee anti-vectoral efforts, to avoid contributing to the spreading of epidemics, or other behaviors which promote or constitute a threat to public health," Castro wrote in Granma newspaper addressed to the people.

CBC News reports that Cuba's airports and terminals have also been secured and are rife with doctors that are busy monitoring travelers and guests for signs of illness. The measures to keep the borders secure and neighborhoods mosquito-free are ramped up as the country's humid spring and hot summer is sure to bring an onset of mosquitoes.

The increase of mothers with babies with microcephalic birth defects has been noted in Brazil, where Zika is rampant. However, it is not proven if the virus is responsible for the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Just a few days ago, a study found that Zika virus is strongly linked to the rare, neurological Guillain-Barré Syndrome. The study was conducted by studying the blood of French Polynesian patients that were infected by Zika in a previous outbreak in 2013.

Guillain-Barré syndrome is an auto-immune disorder where the body attacks the nerves, which can cause muscle weakness and paralysis. Fortunately, the majority of people can recover, but some might experience life-long effects of fatigue or numbness.The researchers say that there will be a case of Guillain-Barré syndrome in every four thousand patients infected with the Zika virus.

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