A Utah woman is the first confirmed person in the continental U.S.to die from potentially Zika-related causes, the Salt Lake County Health Department said Friday.
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The individual died in late June, was elderly and had an underlying health condition, according to a Salt Lake County Health Department news release.
According to the Salt Lake County health department, the patient had contracted Zika while traveling to an area that had active transmission of the virus.
Citing health privacy laws, health officials said that no additional information about the patient will be released.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that it is monitoring 320 U.S. pregnant women with laboratory evidence of Zika virus infection, up from 287 women a week earlier. According to CDC guidance, providers should consider testing all pregnant women with a history of travel to a Zika affected area for the virus. But during recent outbreaks in Latin America, scientists discovered that infection during pregnancy has led to severe brain-related birth defects. Zika is primarily spread by mosquitoes, although several cases of sexual transmission have been reported as well. Last week’s report stated that babies that were born with birth defects and mothers who have lost their unborn babies due to the virus sum up to 7 and 5 cases respectively.
The health department will set up four monitoring stations, in each Northern Kentucky County.
Health officials say dry weather and higher temperatures actually support faster breeding of mosquitoes, so it’s especially important to take extra precautions during the summer months.
U.S. health officials announced Friday the first death that resulted from an infection by that Zika virus in the continental United States.
The symptoms of Zika include a fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes.
People all across the nation can only hope that this case will bring more attention and more funding to Zika, as it has now proven to cause harm towards those infected with it.
Holbrook said there have been no cases in the United States where Zika was transmitted via blood from the Aedes mosquito to a human.
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It’s spread mainly through the bite of a tropical mosquito, the Aedes aegpyti. Saddler said through monitoring local mosquitoes, public health officials can determine the risk for Zika virus by looking at which species are circulating in the region.
