The National Health and Family Planning Commission says the 34-year-old man from the southern city of Ganzhou had been treated in Venezuela on January 28 before returning home on February 5 via Hong Kong and the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

The commission said the man was confirmed as having the Zika virus on Tuesday, but his temperature was now normal and a skin rash was receding.

It said the virus is highly unlikely to spread in China due to low winter temperatures and a lack of mosquito activity, the primary avenue by which Zika spreads.

Zika infection in pregnant women has been suspected for causing a rare birth defect.