Health emergency also declared in Broward County amid Zika virus concerns

At least a half-dozen other residents in New York, New Jersey and CT have brought the disease back after visiting one of the countries affected by the outbreak.

State health officials said Friday that a case of the Zika virus was found in Osceola County, outside Orlando, and one in St. Johns County, near Jacksonville.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is asking pregnant women to abstain from sex if their partner has recently visited an area where Zika is now active. After confirming a sexually transmitted case of Zika virus in Dallas County, Texas, the CDC released guidelines calling for men who have traveled to affected areas to use condoms during sex with a pregnant partner or abstain from sex for the duration of the pregnancy.

Central Florida has its first case of Zika – in Osceola County, the Florida Department of Health confirmed on Friday.

Cases of the disorder have increased along with the spread of Zika, which is being blamed for causing brain defects in thousands of babies.

While most people have mild symptoms at worst, health officials say the virus is suspected of having a link to an alarming spike in babies born with abnormally small heads – a condition called microcephaly – in Brazil and French Polynesia.

“We are closely monitoring the possible spread of the virus particularly from Latin America to other regions”, the UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehim stated.

Brazilian researchers found traces of the Zika virus in the saliva and urine of patients with symptoms of the disease, which means the virus is potentially transmissible through those two means, China’s Xinhua news agency reported. One woman gave birth in Hawaii to a child with microcephaly; officials said she likely contracted the virus while living in Brazil.

The Zika virus has many Southern Californians concerned, especially those with ties to the hardest hit nation: Brazil.

State Surgeon General John Armstrong says both tests are extremely important for mothers who traveled overseas and may have had symptoms.

Nevertheless, the CDC advises pregnant women to discuss with their health care providers any potential exposures their male sex partners may have had to the virus.