Nine Pacific travellers enter New Zealand with Zika virus

Nine New Zealanders have contracted the mosquito-borne Zika virus and one man is in hospital with the illness, the Ministry of Health said Friday.

All nine had recently arrived from places in the South Pacific, with four from Tonga, four from Samoa and one yet to be reported, said a statement from the ministry.

The ministry had extended its Pacific travel advice around the Zika virus to include Tonga as well as Samoa as an area of active transmission.

Eight of the travelers had recovered, but a 47-year old man, had been admitted to hospital in Hamilton, in the upper North Island, with symptoms indicative of Guillain-Barre, a condition that can potentially cause paralysis, and was in a stable condition.

Chief medical officer Dr Don Mackie said the notifications should be seen in the context of a large number of travelers in the region.

In 2014 there were 57 Zika notifications, and last year there were six.

"We will be providing advice to incoming travelers and the Ministry is updating its information for health professionals. There remains robust mosquito surveillance and monitoring at our borders," Mackie said in a statement.

Health messaging advising travelers on what they should do if they get sick within a month of returning to New Zealand was displayed at all our international airports and available in a health advice card format, he said.

The notifications were published as the World Health Organization announced it will convene an International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on Zika to assess whether the outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.