First case of pregnant woman with Zika in Europe

The move came after the World Health Organization declared the Zika virus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Monday due to its links to thousands of birth defects in Brazil.

Health officials said the woman had become infected after she returned from Colombia, and is one of seven confirmed cases in the country.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the Texas case was the first US Zika case in someone who had not traveled overseas in the current outbreak, CDC Director Tom Frieden said on Twitter. It has not yet detected a case in a pregnant woman.

Scott said the state is working with the CDC to get more tests that allow doctors to determine if a person has ever been infected with the Zika virus, and to help educate health providers in the state about the virus and its effects.

Although Tuesday’s report of a sexual transmission in Dallas adds to evidence that bodily fluids might also transmit the disease, scientists and public health authorities said far more research is needed to determine how much sexual contact might be needed for contagion. “We advise pregnant women to postpone travel to areas where Zika is spreading”.

Zika is not typically lethal in adults but is linked to birth defects, making the virus particularly risky for pregnant women. The Dallas patient was infected by a person who picked up the virus in Venezuela.

A Harrisonburg mother of three has been diagnosed with the first known case of the Zika virus in Virginia. Signs and symptoms of Zika fever may include a low-grade fever, rash, joint pain, reddening of the eyes, body aches, headache, eye pain, and vomiting.

There is no word on her or the condition of her unborn child. Medical workers have been screening people showing symptoms of the virus and alerting health officials of anyone who traveled recently to South America. All of the sickened contracted the disease while traveling outside of the United States to affected countries.

Fourteen officials from the region, including Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Castro, whose country has been hit hardest by the virus, held emergency talks in Montevideo, Uruguay Wednesday.