HO CHI MINH CITY, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) — Two women from Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City have been tested positive to Zika virus, raising the total number of Zika patients in the country to seven, the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute said Saturday.

The two new cases include a 22-year-old woman from the city's District 2 and a 43-year-old woman from District 12; both of them have recovered.

Among the seven Zika cases, four are from Ho Chi Minh City, and one from southern Binh Duong province, and the two central provinces of Khanh Hoa and Phu Yen each.

Vietnam's Health Ministry has urged health departments and localities nationwide to keep surveillance on suspected cases, take samples for testing, kill mosquitos and larvae, and pay due attention to pregnant women and those who plan to conceive.

Zika virus is acquired through bites from infected Aedes aegypti mosquitos. Common symptoms include fever, skin rash and joint pains. It can also cause microcephaly, brain malformations and other birth defects if a pregnant woman is infected.