First Maryland Case of Zika Virus Confirmed

BALTIMORE, MD — The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has confirmed the first reported Zika virus infection in a Maryland resident.

The patient had traveled to a country where Zika transmission has been active and ongoing. A blood test confirmed that the patient had the disease, state officials said.

The Maryland resident recently traveled to Central America, The Baltimore Sun reports. Officials would not say where in the state the patient lived.

There have been at least 22 cases of the mosquito-borne illness affecting travelers returning to the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Our department will continue to actively partner with the CDC, Maryland healthcare providers, laboratories, and health departments to provide support to Marylanders at risk of Zika infection – especially to pregnant women,” said Secretary Van T. Mitchell. “As CDC guidance has evolved, we actually have expanded access to testing for people who had not met that agency’s initial testing criteria.”

The state’s public health laboratory expects to be able to test for Zika within the next week.

Zika Virus in the United States: What You Need to Know

Symptoms of Zika may include fever, rash, conjunctivitis and joint pain.

Zika virus infection goes undetected in many people, but alarms have been raised recently with the realization that it can cause severe brain deformities to a child if a pregnant woman is exposed.

The illness was primarily confined to Africa, Southeast Asia and Pacific islands before last year. But in 2015, an outbreak was reported in Brazil, and the disease has been reported in 20 other countries in the Caribbean and Central and South America

Last week, the CDC included the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic to that list. Brazil, which is scheduled to host the Summer Olympics in 2016, is also on the list.

PHOTO: Mosquito image courtesy of CDC