Cuba reports first case of Zika contracted in the country

File photo shows an Aedes aegypti mosquitoe at the Laboratory of Entomology and Ecology of the Dengue Branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Copyright Reuters 2016)

HAVANA – Cuba's Health Ministry on Tuesday reported the first case of Zika contracted in the country, after four previous cases all involved people who had contracted the virus while abroad.

Zika, which is carried by mosquitoes that transmit the virus to humans, is suspected of causing birth defects when it infects pregnant women.