BC resident diagnosed with Zika virus after returning from El Salvador

The first case of a scary new disease called Zika Fever to be confirmed in the United States has been isolated in a person in Houson who just returned from El Salvador, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.

Avoid mosquitos, especially overseas, Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services officials warned Monday.

Symptoms of the virus, which has no known cure, include rash, fever, joint paint and conjunctivitis.

Although, prior to that date, public health workers running routine diagnostics had detected antibodies against Zika virus in a wide variety of places in tropical Africa and South-East Asia, which indicated that quite a lot of people had encountered Zika at some point in their lives.

In most people, a Zika infection either causes no symptoms or mild symptoms similar to the flu. “Zika virus infections occur throughout the world”.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed Houston’s first case of travel-acquired Zika virus, a mosquito-borne illness that has been linked to neurological diseases and birth defects.

The patient is reported to be a traveller who had recently visited Latin America.

Virologists have been expressing concern about Zika virus for a couple of years now. Moreover, some of the babies who have microcephaly also tested positive for Zika virus.

Much like Dengue and West Nile, this virus is spreading in areas that have never experienced them before.

“There is a possibility Zika virus may be in our mosquito population, and so that’s what we’re really mindful of”, said Dr. Umair Shah, HCPHES Director.

The Zika virus is transmitted to people through the bite of an infected mosquito, however the virus has been isolated in semen and person-to-person sexual transmission has been documented.

Barbados has stepped up its border surveillance and monitoring systems as the country records eight suspected cases of the mosquito-borne Zika virus. Despite this, Brazil has already settled into a state of panic with local doctors going so far as to advice women not to get pregnant.

“Since there are many causes of microcephaly in babies, it will take some time to determine the cause of these cases”, said a spokeswoman in an emailed statement to TIME.

The CDC recommends taking precautionary measures- like wearing mosquito repellent and wearing long sleeves and pants- to prevent mosquito bites when traveling to those areas where the virus is common.