LIMA – The first domestic case involving sexual transmission of the Zika virus has been identified in Peru, Health Minister Anibal Velasquez said.

A 32-year-old woman who lives in Lima contracted the virus when she had sexual intercourse with her 39-year-old husband, who was infected during a trip to Maturin, Venezuela, last month, Velasquez said.

The woman exhibited the first symptoms of the disease on March 28, when she came down with a fever, rash, headache and itching.

Her husband, for his part, had the same symptoms a few days earlier and also got conjunctivitis.

Tests conducted by the National Health Institute detected the virus in his semen.

Health officials determined that the virus was not transmitted by a mosquito bite because no other Zika cases have been reported in the area where the couple lives.

The Zika virus, which is mainly transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, causes fever, joint pain and rashes.

Zika has been linked to a neurodevelopment disorder known as microcephaly, in which babies are born with brain damage and a smaller-than-normal head size.