Health officials said that no additional information about the patient will be released.
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“This unfortunate situation is a tragic reminder of how important it is to receive proper pre-travel education and to protect yourself from mosquitoes when travelling overseas”, said Dagmar Vitek, medical director for the Salt Lake County Health Department. “This person had an underlying medical condition and tested positive for Zika, so we know it contributed to [the death], but we don’t know that it was the sole cause [of death]”, said Dr. Dagmar Vitek, medical director for the Salt Lake County Department of Health.
The unidentified person was living in Salt Lake County and contracted the virus while traveling overseas to an area with a Zika outbreak.
More pregnant women face the dilemma between giving birth to zika babies and abortion.
Even in areas of the US where mosquitoes capable of carrying the Zika virus are found, health officials have not identified any Zika infections transmitted by local mosquitoes. Those who are at risk include anyone traveling to regions of the world where mosquitos are spreading Zika.
Thespread of Zika virus is becoming more alarming in the U.S.as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement Thursday stating an increase of about 33 cases recorded from 287 women that were infected with the mosquito-borne illness just last week.
A person infected with Zika has died in Utah, and while the exact cause is unclear, authorities said Friday it marks the first death related to the virus in the continental U.S.
In April, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that a man in his 70s infected with the Zika virus had died from complications of the infection on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, which is part of United States territory.
“The exotic mosquito species [Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus] capable of transmitting Zika virus are not found along the Wasatch Front”.
Zika virus represents a serious threat to pregnant women because it can cause congenital brain malformations including microcephaly, characterized by an underdeveloped skull and a small brain.
But a 70-year-old man from the San Juan metro area in the US territory of Puerto Rico died in late February. Another 14 have become infected after having sex with people who had Zika.
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While Zika symptoms tend to be mild, the virus has killed a handful of people all over the world.
