The number of people in New Zealand who have this year had, or likely had Zika, has hit 100.

Those who have been infected are for the most part faceless, their identities unknown; a girl between one and four years old, three children aged five to 14, and a woman who never travelled overseas whose infection has now been confirmed as stemming from sexual contact.

One person has also needed hospital treatment for Guillain-Barre syndrome which has been linked to a likely case of Zika, the “potentially serious neurological condition” where the immune system turns on the body and attacks.

That person is now out of hospital, but the Ministry did not know their current condition.

While the Ministry of Health said the number of cases is so far tracking as officials expected, its Senior Advisor for Communicable Diseases, Ryan McLane, said it remains on alert.

“It’s hard to predict the future but we will continue to watch this disease very carefully.

“We’re keeping a very close eye on the virus, on its spread throughout the world, and we don’t anticipate reducing that surveillance any time in the near future,” he said.

Dr McLane said there were many things which are not clear about the virus, and that means the Ministry will change its response as more becomes known about it.

Overseas, images related to Zika have often focused on microcephaly, the condition in which babies are born with an abnormally small head and an underdeveloped brain.

Dr McLane said there have been no such cases in this country.

“We are monitoring closely all women who presented with Zika virus infection while pregnant, as of yet no problems have been reported secondary to that infection during pregnancy,” he said.

Officials are keenly aware of what could come in the months ahead however.

While the infection rate here is tracking “about what was expected”, ministry officials are preparing for what could be an increased risk of infections as the months get warmer.

“There are island groups where the infection is ongoing such as Fiji, Samoa, American Samoa, and recently Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

“So it will depend on how much travel occurs to those regions, and most of our travel occurs in our summer time, so December through March,” Dr McLane said.

“We would expect there would be a greater risk of people acquiring [the virus] because more people will be travelling to areas where the infection is ongoing but we’re hoping to get sufficient education in place to reduce that risk as much as possible.”

There were renewed fears around Zika before and during the 2016 Olympic Games.

No New Zealand infections have been recorded from anyone who has travelled to Brazil.

ZIKA IN NEW ZEALAND IN 2016

• 93 confirmed cases: 26 men and boys and 67 women and girls
• 7 likely cases: 4 men and 3 women
• All cases with one exception are linked to travel to countries like Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, the United States, American Samoa, and Trinidad and Tobago.
• The remaining case has a confirmed link to sexual transmission, the person’s partner travelled to an area where Zika was present.
• The Ministry of Health will continue efforts to educate travellers about protection from mosquito bites.
• It says the rate of infection rising in the future is “very possible”.
• All women who have presented with Zika while pregnant are being closely monitored.
• Ministry of Health doesn’t anticipate reducing overall monitoring in the near future.