--- title: New Zika Virus Cases Confirmed in the U.K. description: New cases of the Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects, have been confirmed in the United Kingdom, health officials said. canonical: https://time.com/4191905/zika-virus-uk/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-24T19:05:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:08:16.569Z article:section: Health og:title: New Zika Virus Cases Confirmed in the U.K. og:description: Three British travelers have been diagnosed with the mosquito-borne disease og:url: https://time.com/4191905/zika-virus-uk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05e0fda1cf188128/698878a72dce0141ec9e74a6/aedes-aegypti-mosquito-zika.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 471817525 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New Zika Virus Cases Confirmed in the U.K. twitter:description: Three British travelers have been diagnosed with the mosquito-borne disease twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05e0fda1cf188128/698878a72dce0141ec9e74a6/aedes-aegypti-mosquito-zika.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New Zika Virus Cases Confirmed in the U.K.  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 24, 2016 7:05 PM UTC  Aedes aegypti mosquito Aedes aegypti mosquitoGetty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 24, 2016 7:05 PM UTC New cases of the Zika virus, which is linked to birth defects, [have been confirmed in the U.K.](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/zika-virus), health officials said. Three British travelers have been diagnosed with the mosquito-borne disease after visits to Colombia, Suriname and Guyana, according to Public Health England. The government agency did not provide further details about the cases but said the Zika virus “does not occur naturally in the U.K.” The virus is typically found abroad and has become a growing threat in the U.S., where cases have been [confirmed in Florida and Illinois](http://time.com/4187178/zika-virus-reported-florida-illinois/). It’s also spreading in South America, Central America and the Caribbean. **Read More:** [_5 Things to Know About the Zika Virus_](http://time.com/4176167/zika-virus-what-to-know/) The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned pregnant women to reconsider traveling to the areas where they would be at risk of contracting the virus, as federal health officials [push to develop a vaccine](http://time.com/4188973/zika-virus-vaccine-nih/) for it. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4191905/zika-virus-uk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4191905/zika-virus-uk/"},"headline":"New Zika Virus Cases Confirmed in the U.K.","datePublished":"2016-01-24T19:05:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:08:16.569Z","description":"Three British travelers have been diagnosed with the mosquito-borne disease","url":"https://time.com/4191905/zika-virus-uk/","keywords":["Public Health"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05e0fda1cf188128/698878a72dce0141ec9e74a6/aedes-aegypti-mosquito-zika.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05e0fda1cf188128/698878a72dce0141ec9e74a6/aedes-aegypti-mosquito-zika.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"471817525","caption":"Aedes aegypti mosquito","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4191905/zika-virus-uk/","name":"New Zika Virus Cases Confirmed in the U.K."}}]}] ```