The woman, from Victoria state, was diagnosed with Zika after returning from a country where the mosquito-borne virus is prevalent, Victoria Health Minister Jill Hennessy said.
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Zika virus is mainly spread through two species of mosquitoes and is active in Central and South America, as well as the Pacific islands.
And Maryland public health officials said Thursday that they anticipate more cases in the state. Find us on Facebook too!
Brazil is also investigating a potential link between Zika infections and more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly, a condition marked by abnormally small skulls in newborns and stunted brain development. The adult woman – officials did not say where she lives – contracted the virus in an affected country outside the United States and has recovered.
“We are focusing on pregnant women and women in the reproductive age range who may become pregnant”, Dr. Miller said. The CDC did not say where the women lived or where specifically they had traveled.
Alabama is now one of at least 12 states with a confirmed case of the Zika Virus.
Brazil’s health ministry confirmed its third Zika-related death while China reported its first case of Zika yesterday.
Last week the CDC issued its own detailed recommendations for preventing sexual transmission of the virus, including the suggestion that men who have traveled to Zika-affected regions consider abstaining from sex with their pregnant partner for the duration of the pregnancy.
The situation regarding Zika virus has been changing as new information develops.
At present, doctors have relied mostly on costly genetic tests to find traces of the virus in some patients, but those tests, known as PCR, are not widely available and are limited to when a patient is actively showing symptoms.
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Kristin Weivoda, Yolo County’s emergency medical services administrator, would not disclose the identity or sex of the infected person or where he or she had traveled to. The disease starts with a mosquito bite and normally causes little more than a fever and rash.So far, 26 countries have confirmed the case of Zika.
