The Bucks County Department of Health was notified Thursday that a county resident has tested positive for Zika virus. The resident has fully recovered
Dr. David Damsker, who heads the county health department, said the resident had recently traveled to the Caribbean and returned after a stay. Following their return, they were diagnosed with Zika virus, which is primarily spread through mosquitoes and is suspected of causing birth defects in newborns.
“This positive case does not elevate the risk of contracting Zika for any of the residents of Bucks County,” Damsker said. “There is no risk of local transmission as a result of this one individual.”
County spokesman Chris Edwards said officials are not releasing the persons hometown due to medical privacy reasons.
Zika virus often has no serious impacts on healthy individuals but can have potentially disastrous effects for pregnant women. According to a report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, an outbreak of Zika in Brazil has appeared to correspond to an explosion of potential cases of microcephaly, a birth defect involving shrunken skulls and development impediments.
State health officials have said the Zika virus can be transmitted through mosquito bites and through sexual and blood contact. In rare cases, it can be transferred from mother to child.
There is a lower risk of Zika-infected mosquitoes in Pennsylvania and higher latitudes because the type of mosquito that can transmit the virus mainly lives in the southernmost parts of the United States, Damsker told NewtownPANow.com earlier this year.
As of Tuesday, federal health officials have confirmed 36 Zika-positive residents in the state and 154 test results were still pending.
Bucks County has set up a Zika virus information page: http://www.buckscounty.org/docs/default-source/health-department-documents/zika-virus-awareness.pdf?sfvrsn=0
