Morgan County resident is Alabama’s first Zika case

Tests are being conducted from Alabama resident specimens with a travel history to areas where Zika virus outbreaks are ongoing.

Zika is spread by certain types of mosquitoes that bite an infected person, then bite an uninfected person.

“However, we are advising all people, but especially pregnant women, or women who may be trying or intending to get pregnant, to avoid travelling to those countries and places where there has been Zika outbreaks”.

Ms Hennessey said the Zika virus poses no public health risk to others in the community as it is not transmitted person to person and is not present in Australian mosquitoes.

“We do not believe that Zika will spread from these suspected cases”, DHH State Epidemiologist Dr. Raoult Ratard said.

Some scientists have warned the virus could cause the paralyzing condition Guillain-Barre Syndrome in adults, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says they cannot confirm the link.

Zika virus may cause no illness or symptoms, or may cause a mild illness that can include fever, rash, joint pain, muscle pain, headache and conjunctivitis (red eyes).

The news comes after a pregnant woman in Queensland was diagnosed late a year ago. Minister of Health Alejandro Gaviria said that at least 16.000 people have already been already infected with the Zika virus in Colombia, among them more than 500 pregnant women.

The CDC’s chief pathologist had earlier told the STAT website that about three USA women suffered miscarriages as a result of contracting Zika virus from outside the country, but did not offer any supportive details of the incident.

A Maryland resident has been diagnosed with the Zika virus in Baltimore, in the first confirmed case in the state. He said that the current flu season poses a greater risk to the public.

Travelers to the Caribbean and Central and South America may become exposed to the virus, health officials say. Other counties where the virus has been discovered are: Hillsborough (3), Broward (2), Osceola (1), Santa Rosa (1), and St. Johns (1). He cautioned that full-fledged availability of a vaccine against the mosquito-borne virus would take longer.