A Danish tourist has been infected by the Zika virus after visiting southern and central America, Danish hospital officials said.

But authorities said on Wednesday that it was not the first case in Europe.

Aarhus University Hospital said the patient ran a fever, had a headache and muscle aches and was found to have the virus on Tuesday.

The hospital released no further details about the patient but said there is little risk of it spreading in Denmark because the mosquito carrying the virus is not found in the country.

Romit Jain, from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm, Sweden, said there have been confirmed cases of imported Zika virus infections in Germany and Britain.

A Zika virus case was also confirmed in Sweden last summer, said Sara Rorbecker of the Swedish Public Health Agency. She said the patient contracted the virus while travelling, adding that there was nothing "dramatic" about the case.

Zika virus is not a notifiable disease in the European Union, meaning that EU countries are not required to report cases to the ECDC. Therefore, there is wide variation on reporting by member states.

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