Zika virus found in Philly resident who’s recovering

The first case of Zika infection has been discovered in a Philadelphia resident, a woman over 60 who recently returned from the Caribbean.

 

She was not hospitalized for infection and is presently recovering without complications.  Mayor Jim Kenney said the city health department is keeping a watchful eye on the situation.”We’ll take whatever protocols are necessary,” he said. “My understanding … is that it can’t be transferred person to person. It’s transferred person to mosquito to person and potentially to fetus to baby, and that’s what our health commissioner is working on now.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also confirmed cases that appear to have been transmitted through sexual contact with someone exhibiting Zika symptoms.

Meanwhile, the CDC late last week confirmed a second Zika case in New Jersey in a Hudson County woman who traveled to Honduras. There is no public health risk because the woman was exposed to mosquitoes in Honduras.

The CDC notified New Jersey’s Department of Health  in December of the state’s first travel-related Zika case in an individual who was visiting Bergen County at the end of November and was exposed in Colombia, where she resides. She fully recovered and returned to Colombia.Philadelphia health officials issued a statement advising pregnant women to cancel or postpone plans to travel to geographic areas where Zika virus is present.  For others, the department urges them to “take measures to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes” while traveling.