First Zika Infection in a Pregnant Texas Resident Who Did Not Travel Outside the State

dshs.texas.gov - January 25-31, 2017

Texas has identified the first instance of a laboratory-confirmed Zika infection in a pregnant Texas resident who did not travel outside the state. The woman, a resident of Bexar County, traveled to Brownsville in November, around the time six Brownsville residents acquired cases of Zika virus disease from mosquitoes there. She did not get sick and was tested for Zika during regular prenatal care. Because the infection was not transmitted in Bexar County, it does not represent an increased risk of Zika there.

The infection could have been transmitted by mosquitoes or through sexual contact with a partner who was infected. DSHS urges everyone, especially pregnant women, to continue to protect themselves from mosquito bites when visiting Brownsville and other parts of the state where mosquito activity continues throughout the winter months. Pregnant women should also protect themselves against sexual transmission from partners who travel to those areas by avoiding sexual contact or using condoms for the duration of the pregnancy.

CLICK HERE - First Zika Infection in a Pregnant Texas Resident Who Did Not Travel Outside the State

CLICK HERE - Texas DSHS - Zika in Texas

---------------------------------------------------------

Podcast - Zika in Texas - Dr. John Hellerstedt, Commissioner
Texas Department of State Health Services
http://casestudies.txhealthsteps.com/stepsQuickCourses/Zika/index.html

Host:  Dr. Hellerstedt, to start with give us an overview of the impact Zika has had in Texas to date.

Dr. Hellerstedt:

Yes. To date we have more than 300 cases that we've identified as confirmed cases of Zika. We know of two infants who were infected with the virus before birth. We also know now of five cases of confirmed local mosquito vector transmission of the disease in Texas; specifically, in Brownsville in Cameron County, Texas. As a result of that, we've expanded our human and mosquito surveillance, especially in the lower Rio Grande Valley.

Host:

What is the outlook for 2017?

Dr. Hellerstedt:

I think the outlook for 2017 is guarded. We really need to prepare for the possibility that Zika will emerge at the very beginning of the mosquito season in 2017. We know through very credible sources that all of the Mexican communities along the Texas border have local mosquito vector transmission of Zika. As a result of that, that means that all of those communities are really in very close proximity to one another. Every day, thousands of people go back and forth across the border legally—that is the way they go to work, they go to school, they visit their family, they go shopping. That's a way of life there.

If we have Zika local mosquito transmission in Mexico, it acts, if you will, as a reservoir for the disease in the Texas communities. I think we need to be very, very prepared, especially for surveillance, to really be looking for the presence of Zika in our Texas communities. We also need to be prepared to respond if we see it; in other words, use the countermeasures that we have in place to try and fight the ongoing transmission of Zika.

Podcast - Transcript
http://casestudies.txhealthsteps.com/stepsQuickCourses/Zika/transcript/Zika_in_Texas.txt

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - First non-travel-related Zika virus in pregnant Texas woman confirmed

ALSO SEE RELATED ARTICLE HERE - Bexar County woman confirmed with Zika infection