EVERETT — The second case of a Zika infection has been confirmed in Snohomish County, this time in a young woman who traveled in Ecuador.
Snohomish Health District officials said Tuesday that the woman was between 18 and 25 years old. Ecuador is one of the areas known to have mosquitoes infected with the Zika virus.
The types of mosquitoes that can spread the disease are not found in Washington.
“We’re the third largest county in the state and we’ve got a lot of folks involved in business with international travel,” said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, health officer for the Snohomish Health District. “It’s not surprising that there would be cases popping up.”
There have now been 11 people statewide who have been infected with the Zika virus, according to the state Department of Health. Nationally, the virus is known to have infected 1,133 people.
Not everyone who travels to countries were Zika has been confirmed will get infected, and even some people who are infected may have no symptoms, Goldbaum said.
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 virus is not easily spread 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.
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. That can cause seizures and developmental delays. Federal health officials have advised pregnant women to avoid traveling to countries where the virus has been detected.
“For us, the concern is about sexual transmission and maternal-to-child transmission,” Goldbaum said. “We’re trying to get the word out especially to any couples trying to conceive.”
For young women who may have been exposed to the virus, “we would advise that they delay attempting to conceive for at least eight weeks,” he said. “The best evidence is that the virus will tend to disappear from the woman’s body, or at least no longer pose a threat to pregnancy after eight weeks.”
Men should either abstain from sex or use condoms for up to six months after being diagnosed with Zika, because the virus has been detected in semen for several months after an infection, Goldbaum said.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
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