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New Utah Zika Case Baffles Health Officials

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The mosquito that typically transmits Zika — the Aedes aegypti — does not usually range into northern Utah, but maps of the mosquito’s range can be unreliable and experts say it is theoretically possible that it has made it there. Credit Felipe Dana/Associated Press

nytimes.com - by Sabrina Tavernise - July 18, 2016

WASHINGTON — The Zika virus continues to surprise. On Monday, the Utah Department of Health reported that a new case had been diagnosed that did not appear to have be contracted through the two known sources of transmission: a mosquito bite or sexual contact.

The patient, who has since fully recovered, was a “family contact” who helped care for an older man who had become infected with the virus after traveling abroad. . . .

. . . The new case is something of a medical mystery: Zika is known to be transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and through sex, but neither seemed to be a plausible explanation for what happened in Utah.

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yahoo.com - Associated Press - June 18, 2016

A person who cared for a Zika-infected relative in Utah also got the virus, but exactly how it was transmitted is a medical mystery, health officials announced Monday. . . .

. . . The caregiver did not travel to an affected area, but it’s possible that a mosquito came back with the relative, perhaps in a suitcase, CDC Director Tom Frieden said.

The man who died in late June had an unusually high level of the virus in his blood, more than 100,000 times higher than other samples of infected people. Health workers are testing others who had contact with him, and officials are trapping mosquitoes in Utah to test them. . . .

. . . There’s no evidence yet that the Zika infection in this case is an unusual mutation, but researchers are exploring that possibility through genomic analysis.

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CLICK HERE - VIDEO - Salt Lake County Health Department - Joint Utah Department of Health and CDC Zika Virus News Conference - July 18, 2016

CLICK HERE - Utah Department of Health - News

CLICK HERE - Utah Department of Health - Bureau of Epidemiology - Zika

For information on the Utah Zika patient, click on the link below . . .

http://resiliencesystem.org/utah-resident-becomes-first-zika-related-death-us-0

wsj.com - by Betsy McKay - July 18, 2016

The latest medical surprise surrounding the Zika virus surfaced Monday in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the son of a man who died after becoming infected with Zika contracted the virus himself. Health authorities acknowledged they have no idea how the son got infected.

The case, which health officials called “unique,” is the first in the U.S. in which the source of infection isn’t known. The son, who was ill but recovered quickly, had no exposure that authorities have been able to tie to known modes of transmission.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - The Washington Post - Elderly Zika patient in Utah may have infected a family contact

ALSO SEE RELATED CBS NEWS VIDEO HERE - Mysterious Zika transmission stumps doctors

thequint.com - by Nikita Mishra - July 26, 2016

. . . It’s deadlier than thought - does Zika also cause dengue-like internal bleeding in organs?

Before the death of patient X, the elderly person experienced internal bleeding in the mouth and nose. Earlier in July, a couple of patients in Puerto Rico, who were misdiagnosed with dengue and then found Zika positive, also died from internal bleeding in the organs.

Medical sleuths are busy decoding the puzzle patient-by-patient but with this development no one is certain about the modes of transmission of this deadly disease.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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