Wellington, Mar 3 (IANS): New Zealand is investigating a possible case of sexual transmission of the Zika virus, the health ministry announced on Thursday.

A man had contracted the virus after visiting a Zika-affected country, and his female partner, who had not recently travelled to any Zika-affected country, was also tested positive for Zika, Xinhua news agency reported citing a statement from the ministry.

Both have fully recovered now as they had suffered only mild symptoms.

Two possible modes of transmission were considered: one was unprotected sex, the other was the woman having been bitten by an infected mosquito that might have come to her country through her partner's luggage.

There was limited scientific evidence to suggest the virus could be sexually transmitted, according to the statement.

The couple's property was under surveillance for any exotic mosquitoes, but none had yet been detected.

The risk to the public is extremely low as the species of mosquito that can spread the virus is not native to New Zealand.

In February, the ministry said that eight Zika cases had been confirmed in New Zealand this year, all of them were travellers who had recently been in the South Pacific nations of Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa.