Texas resident contracts Zika virus through sexual contact

The announcement came one day after the World Health Organization declared the current epidemic an global public health emergency.

NBC5 in Dallas/Fort Worth said on its website that the case in Dallas County had been acquired through sexual contact.

Zika is prompting worldwide concern because of an alarming connection to a neurological birth disorder and the rapid spread of the virus across the globe.

The state health director, Dr. Randall Williams, especially asked pregnant women to take note of the recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory to postpone travel to areas with active virus transmission if possible.

The virus is usually spread by mosquito bites, health experts say.

A patient infected in Dallas, Texas, had not travelled to any of the areas affected but their partner had recently returned from Venezuela. It’s believed to be the first transmission within the United States of Zika, which is usually transmitted through mosquito bites. Pregnant women with the Zika virus are at risk of birth defects like microcephaly, a deformity in newborns causing them to have an abnormally small head.

“With Zika we don’t know exactly how long someone can remain infectious but in this case as we understand it, someone had just gotten sick with Zika”.

“Currently, outbreaks of Zika virus are occurring in some countries in South and Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands”.

In a Facebook post, its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that as a community, “we can help fight the Zika virus by raising awareness”.

It is also the first-ever case in country where the disease was transmitted through sexual contact. However, health officials said it could happen eventually. Sexual partners can protect themselves by using condoms to prevent spreading sexually transmitted infections.

Brazil, which has more than 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly that may be linked to Zika, is scheduled to host the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August.

If you get infected symptoms include fever, rash, joint pain, and headaches.