'No Risk' To Residents As Zika Confirmed In Bucks County: Health Official

The first case of the Zika virus has been confirmed in Bucks County, health officials confirmed Thursday.

Bucks County Department of Health Director Dr. David Damsker said a local resident has tested positive for Zika, and said that resident had recently traveled to a Caribbean location. The resident's age and city of residence was not revealed.

The infected person has fully recovered, Damsker said. Authorities have not revealed any additional information on the particular case and did not indicate that person was pregnant.

Still, "there is no risk of local transmission as a result of this one individual," Damsker noted.

“This positive case does not elevate the risk of contracting Zika for any of the residents of Bucks County,” Damsker said.

The county offered this information to raise awareness of the Zika virus.

As of early July, there were 35 confirmed cases of Zika in Pennsylvania so far this year and 1,133 in the continental United States.

The CDC has confirmed that the mosquito-borne virus is responsible for causing severe defects in unborn children, including microcephaly, which leaves babies with abnormally small heads and often with brains that do not develop properly.

Symptoms of Zika include a fever, rash and joint pain. While the illness typically resolves within a week, some severe cases may require hospitalization. Aside from mosquitoes, Zika can be spread through sexual contact in some cases, the CDC notes.

There is currently no vaccine for the virus.

Zika is spread by a specific type of mosquito — the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were once thought to be a threat to only the southern areas of the United States. But the CDC maps shows the possibility of that mosquitoes species reaching as far as New York City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania this year.