KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 — The Health Ministry announced today a Dusun man in Taman Public Jaya Likas, Sabah to be the first Malaysian to contract the Zika virus locally.

In a statement, Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the 61-year-old patient is now warded at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Kota Kinabalu.

“MOH is investigating the patient’s recent travel history. There is a high possibility that the Zika infection was transmitted locally (as the patient has not travelled abroad recently and was likely bitten by an Aedes mosquito carrying Zika),” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said the patient’s blood and urine samples tested positive for Zika.

But he added that the patient’s serious condition could also be due to a plethora of other health problems that the man already suffers from, including hypertension, chronic kidney problems, gallstones and gout.

He said the patient first showed symptoms of a fever on August 27 and received initial treatment at the Luyang Health Clinic on August 3.

The fever worsened the next day and patient experienced other symptoms connected with the mosquito-borne virus such as muscle aches and diarrhoea. He was later transferred to the hospital in Kota Kinabalu.

Dr Noor Hisham said the Health Ministry has initiated vector control measures to be carried out in the housing area where the man lives as well as other places that he had visited. The ministry is also conducting checks on the patient’s acquaintances and others who may have had contact with him to verify if they could have contracted the virus.

With the inclusion of the Sabah man, a total of 12 Malaysians are confirmed to have contracted Zika.

Dr Noor Hisham said the latest figure is based on information received from the Singapore Health Ministry.

Ten Malaysians living and working in the republic have been diagnosed with the disease, while the 11th patient is someone who works in Singapore but resides in Johor.

Previously, the Health Ministry confirmed a 58-year-old woman from Bandar Botanic in Klang, Selangor to be the first Malaysian Zika case in the country. She was suspected to have been infected during a recent trip to Singapore late last month to visit her daughter but is now reported to be recovering.