EVERETT — Public health officials say the first case of Zika virus has been confirmed in somebody who lives in Snohomish County, one of 10 such cases statewide.
A man in his 30s contracted the virus after traveling in the Caribbean. Local health officials were notified that the diagnosis had been laboratory confirmed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Zika is not going to be spread widely locally,” said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District. “We don’t have the type of mosquitoes here that transmit Zika.”
The virus is not easily spread from person to person. However, it can be sexually transmitted from an infected man to a woman, which is of concern if the woman is pregnant or is thinking of becoming pregnant, Goldbaum said.
That’s because the virus can cause a serious birth defect called microcephaly, a condition where the baby’s head is much smaller than usual. It can cause seizures and developmental delays. Federal health officials have advised pregnant women to avoid traveling to countries where the virus has been detected.
The symptoms caused by the virus generally are mild, such as headache, a low-grade fever, and joint pain which lasts a few days to a week.
The Snohomish County man diagnosed with Zika no longer has symptoms.
“There’s nothing to clue someone in that this is a Zika virus infection,” Goldbaum said. It’s often detected by health care workers asking people if they’ve recently traveled outside the U.S., he said.
State health officials say symptoms are noticed in only one in five people infected with the virus. The state’s first case of Zika virus was reported in February. Nationally, 819 cases have been confirmed in people who traveled to areas outside the U.S. where mosquitoes can spread the virus. One infection came from sexual contact.
There’s been no reported cases of someone becoming infected with Zika by mosquitoes in the U.S. Zika cases have been reported in 60 countries. In February, the World Health Organization declared the disease a world health emergency.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has activated an emergency operations center to track its spread.
There are other viruses in tropical countries that can cause illness, Goldbaum said. The concerns is that the Zika virus, which as been detected for 40 years, has changed and now sometimes causes defects in developing fetuses.
There currently are no indications of other suspected Zika cases in Snohomish County, Goldbaum said.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com .
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