First Confirmed Case Of Zika Infection In Austin Reported

AUSTIN, TX -- Austin health officials have confirmed the first case of the Zika virus in Travis County -- only the second report of such infection in Texas and nationally.

“The person, a male under the age of 50, contracted the illness while traveling to Colombia,” officials at the Austin/Travis County Health & Human Services agency wrote in a press release.

The Zika virus has been declared an emerging public health threat by the World Health Organization, health officials noted. The mosquito carrying the virus is endemic to Central Texas, they added.

Zika is blamed on a rash of cases in Brazil of infants being born with a condition known as microcephaly, marked by abnormally small heads among infants.

Pregnant women are a particularly vulnerable population segment to acquire the virus, and a travel advisory urges expectant women not to travel to countries where Zika cases have been confirmed.

Zika is typically carried through the bite of a mosquito, but can also be spread through sexual contact.

Last week, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials confirmed the first Zika case found in Dallas County. In that case, health officials determined the virus was spread through sexual contact with a person who had been in Venezuela -- one of the 28 countries currently under a CDC travel advisory.

Some 30 Americans have been diagnosed with having the Zika virus through travel-related means, including 11 cases in Texas. The Dallas County case was the first case of Zika in the U.S. that was transmitted through sexual contact.

Dallas County Health and Human Services officials this week issued an advisory on how to avoid the Zika virus. You can read its list of recommendations on avoiding getting infected here.