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Russia Ready to Isolate Zika Immediately if Virus Enters Country

© RIA Novosti . Alexei Nikolsky / Go to the mediabankThe check-in counter at the Sheremetyevo International Airport
The check-in counter at the Sheremetyevo International Airport - Sputnik International
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The possibility of the Zika virus entering Russia is being controlled, it will be immediately isolated should it be brought into the country, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said on Thursday.

SHEREMETYEVO (Sputnik) – Zika virus spread in Russia under control, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said on Thursday.

"We have worked out serious measures to control viruses entering Russia, so now we are monitoring so that this virus is not brought to the country. If anything happens, there are all measures to isolate [it] immediately," Golodets told reporters.

The Zika virus primarily affects monkeys and humans and is transmitted by daytime-active mosquitoes. A causal relationship between the Zika virus and neurological disorders including microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with small heads, is strongly suspected, although not yet confirmed.

The current Zika outbreak started in Brazil in spring 2015 and has spread across Latin America since then. The first case of the Zika virus in Europe was confirmed in Denmark in January, followed by Sweden and Germany.

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