Four cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed in the UK, Public Health England has said.

Dr Dilys Morgan told a committee of MPs in Westminster that the four cases were “travel associated” and not thought to have been contracted in Britain.

The infected people have been identified in the last six weeks.

She told the Commons Science and Technology Committee: “We have had seven cases, six associated with the current outbreak in South America, in the past three years.

“We have four of those in 2016 so we are seeing cases coming back. We have raised awareness so people are more aware of the infections.

“We are likely to see more cases.”

The virus is thought to have led to birth defects in unborn children in Brazil which has led to a worldwide warning about the virus from the World Health Organisation.

Zika has relatively unremarkable symptoms including a headache, joint pain, rash and mild fever. But the virus, spread by infected mosquitoes, is thought to cause microcephaly in unborn babies.

Microcephaly leads to children being born with under-developed brains and small heads.

There is currently no vaccine or drug treatment for the virus, which is spreading in areas where the mosquito lives and breeds like South America.

•Excerpted from The Telegraph (UK).