Zika virus
Zika virusReuters

South Africa reportedly confirmed its first case of Zika virus in a Columbian business man who visited Johannesburg, one of the South Africa's biggest cities.

The Colombian man was diagnosed with the virus by a private Johannesburg pathology laboratory, Xinhua reported, citing Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. The minister said the man acquired the infection in Colombia before he visited Johannesburg.

He ruled out any imminent risk to the people in South African due to the confirmation of the country's first Zika case.

"The confirmation of this particular case poses no risk to the South African population as the virus is not transmitted from human to human but through the Aedes aegypti mosquito and or possibly from mother to the foetus in pregnant women," Motsoaledi said.

The World Health Organisation declared Zika virus a global health emergency on Feb. 1, following a spike in cases related to microcephaly – a rare birth defect. 

Brazil and U.S. researchers will undertake a joint study on the possibility of a link between the Zika virus and microcephaly. The first findings of that sduty are expected to be out by May.