Sharp said the man was diagnosed with a rare Zika complication known as immune thrombocytopenic purpura or ITP, an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks blood cells, called platelets.
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As of Tuesday, one of the new cases of the mosquito-borne virus was from Miami-Dade County, another in Palm Beach County and the other is a pregnant woman – totaling the number of cases in the state to 102.
On Monday a group of local and state leaders met with representatives from the NIH and CDC to get updates and talk Zika Virus prepardness. But it can cause microcephaly, a severe birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads. The state’s health department does not stipulate the county in the case of pregnant women. This mosquito species is not present in CT and related species are not likely to spread the disease in CT, according to the DPH. Of those, 36 occurred in pregnant women and eight were sexually transmitted.
According to Florida’s Health Department, six pregnant women have been infected with the virus, so far.
“As we’ve said, it wasn’t a question of if we would see a case, but when”, he said. Additionally there are reported cases of the virus in U.S. Territories such as Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa. The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes). There has also been one case involving a 54-year-old woman who had been living in the Netherlands but got bitten by infected mosquitoes when she visited her native Suriname in January 2016. There have been reports of a serious birth defect of the brain in babies of mothers who had Zika virus while pregnant.
Current CDC guidance states that women and men who desire pregnancy and reside in an area with active Zika virus transmission should talk to their healthcare provider and strictly follow steps to prevent both mosquito bites and sexual transmission of the virus.
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Officials have been warning for months that those who travel to Zika-impacted areas, especially those who intend to become pregnant, take extra precautions or postpone travel.
