Malaysia is reporting the country's first case of a pregnant woman infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus.
Health Minister S. Subramaniam told reporters Wednesday the patient is a 27-year-old married woman who lives in the southern state of Johor, which borders Singapore. The city-state is undergoing an outbreak of Zika infections, having recorded a total of 275 cases.
Subramaniam says it is unclear how the woman, who is between three-to-four months pregnant, contracted the disease, which has been linked to microcephaly, a severe birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and possible developmental problems.
He said she has traveled to Singapore recently, while her husband travels back and forth daily due to his job.
Malaysia reported its first case of Zika last week in a 58-year-old woman who had recently visited Singapore, and reported its first locally transmitted infection on Sunday.
