Research Associate, Karen Lee of Agency for Science Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) Experimental Therapeutics Centre prepares a reaction mix to be tested with the Zika virus diagnostic test kit at their laboratory in Singapore, on Wednesday.

China has confirmed its first case of the Zika virus in a man who had recently traveled to South America, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The virus, which is causing international alarm after spreading through much of the Americas, was detected in a 34-year-old man from Ganxian county in the eastern province of Jiangxi, Xinhua said, citing China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Chinese health authorities downplayed the risk of the mosquito-borne virus spreading because of the winter cold, Xinhua added.

Meanwhile in Australia, a pregnant woman tested positive for the Zika after traveling overseas. The Queensland state Department of Health said on Wednesday that the woman was diagnosed with the disease after returning from a trip abroad. The department declined to provide additional details, such as which country the woman had visited.

Last week, another woman in Queensland was diagnosed with Zika after returning from a trip to El Salvador. Experts in Australia have said the risk of Zika spreading across the nation is extremely low. The type of mosquito that carries the virus only lives in the far northeast corner of the country, which is sparsely populated.

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