Hospital officials announced the first confirmed case of Zika virus in the city of Chicago Monday morning. The New Jersey Department of Health recently reported that a women who contracted the virus in Colombia became ill while visiting Bergen County in November.
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“The resident was only in Townsville for a couple of days while unwell, has now recovered and is no longer infectious”, the department said in a statement.
Mosquito bites remain the primary transmission of Zika virus, but sexual transmission of the virus is possible.
This 2006 photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Aedes aegypti mosquito in the process of acquiring a blood meal from a human host. “At no time was anyone in our hospital, or doctors’ offices or people with whom she had casual contact with at risk of contracting the virus”. She is not pregnant and has since made a full recovery. “Advisory has also been issued that pregnant women who have travelled to areas with Zika virus transmission should mention about their travel during pregnancy check-up visits in order to be assessed and monitored appropriately at the health facility”, he said. The World Health Organization declared the spread of Zika in Central and South America as a global health emergency and worldwide health officials are investigating if Zika infection in pregnant women is linked to a substantive uptick in the number of babies born with microcephaly, a congenital condition in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and incomplete brain development.
Many people infected don’t get sick.
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“Suffice to say Zika virus can be added to our list of viruses that can cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, and investigation of these cases should include tests for Zika when there is a possibility of infection by that virus”, Smith said. Within two weeks of exposure, one in five infected persons will develop fever, rash, conjunctivitis (red eyes) and joint aches that usually resolve within a week.
