Salt Lake County health officials said the second individual had not traveled to a Zika-infected area or had sex with anyone who had traveled to the area, leaving experts stumped.
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Florida officials are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to launch an epidemiological study, according to the statement.
The virus was found in Miami-Dade County and right now there’s an investigation into how it was transmitted.
If it’s confirmed, it would be the first evidence that Zika has spread to mosquitoes in the continental U.S. All cases up to now have been in people who traveled to Zika-affected regions or their sexual partners.
There have been 18 confirmed cases on St. Croix and 38 confirmed cases on St. Thomas, according to the Health Department report. The health department did not immediately respond to questions.
The Zika virus is transmitted via infected mosquitoes and sexual contact.
US health officials are investigating the mysterious case of a person in Utah who contracted Zika while caring for an elderly man infected with the virus.
He said there had been a few Aedes aegypti mosquitoes – the kind that carry Zika – discovered in traps in the south-western parts of the state several years ago, but there had not been any since.
His father caught Zika overseas and died after returning home with an unusually high level of the virus in his system. Zika has exploded across South America, where cases of microcephaly have been reported in infants born to mothers who had the virus. “All of us are responsible”, Scott said on June 28.
As the investigation moves forward, Florida lawmakers continue their fight for more funding to combat the virus. Zika in the early stages of pregnancy is known to be associated with birth defects.
Authorities were testing other people who had contact with the father to ensure no one else was infected.
The deceased man had a rampant case of viral infection, with viral loads 100,000 times above the typical infection’s rate.
“It may just be an extraordinary circumstance that’s not really generalizable”, he said. For one thing, the disease-spreading mosquitoes aren’t usually found at the altitudes where the unidentified man lived in northern Utah. They were eradicated and have not been detected since. “We have got to get rid of the standing water so we don’t have these mosquitoes breed in our yards”.
While Utah crews are checking hotspots, they also are urging people to look in their own backyards.
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“In an abundance of caution, and an attempt to combat Aedes mosquitos, crews from Vector Disease Control International, a private company hired by the City of Lewisville, will conduct mosquito spraying/fogging in the areas closely surrounding the infected resident’s house”.
