Zika Confirmed Delaware Traveler

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Zika has been confirmed in a Delaware traveler..

http://6abc.com/1193687/

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Delaware health officials have announced the state's first case of Zika virus.

The patient is an adult female, the Delaware Division of Public Health said. The virus is travel-related and pregnancy is not an issue.

Officials are expected to release more details on Wednesday.

However, the DPH said it will not be providing information regarding where the person who has tested positive is from.

Delaware health officials say:

Zika is a generally mild illness currently widespread in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Anyone who lives or travels in the impacted areas can be infected. Zika is mosquito-borne and most people who are infected with Zika do not develop symptoms. The most serious threat linked to Zika is birth defects in infants whose mother contracted the disease. DPH is focusing its messaging and awareness on preventing exposure for pregnant women and their partners.

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Map updated

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&hl=en&authuser=0&authuser=0&mid=zv94AJqgUct4.kT4qLMXp3SLU

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MEDIA ADVISORY: STATEWIDE MEDIA CALL

DELAWARE TO ANNOUNCE TRAVEL-RELATED POSITIVE ZIKA CASE

 

WHO:	Karyl Rattay, MD, MS, Division Director, Division of Public Health (DPH) Awele Maduka-Ezeh, MD, Medical Director, DPH
WHAT:	DPH will announce the first Delaware Zika case in an adult female. It is travel-related and pregnancy is not an issue. Drs. Rattay and Maduka-Ezeh will share the latest recommendations and information.  Zika is a generally mild illness currently widespread in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Anyone who lives or travels in the impacted areas can be infected. Zika is mosquito-borne and most people who are infected with Zika do not develop symptoms. The most serious threat linked to Zika is birth defects in infants whose mother contracted the disease. DPH is focusing its messaging and awareness on preventing exposure for pregnant women and their partners.
WHEN:	Wednesday, February 10, 2016 at 1:45 p.m.
CALL:	Dial 302-526-5475, then enter conference ID: 1627127

INFORMATION:

• CDC information on Zika: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/
• DPH Zika page: http://dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/zika.html
• Flyer for pregnant women in English: http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/files/zikaflyerforpregnantwomen.pdf
• Flyer for pregnant women in Spanish: http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/files/zikaflyerforpregnantwomensp.pdf
• DPH special bulletin on Zika: http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/files/dphbulletin1602zika.pdf
• Zika information in Spanish:http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/mediosdecomunicacion/comunicados/d_recomendaciones_viajeros_virus_del_zika_011516.html
• http://dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/pressreleases/2016/mediaadvisoryzika-020916.html
•  

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Delaware Division of Public Health: Confirmed Zika case not a 'threat' to Delawareans

By Amy Cherry 4:49pm, February 10, 2016 - Updated 4:53pm, February 10, 2016

Despite Delaware's first laboratory-confirmed case of the Zika virus, state health officials reassured the public Wednesday that there's no concern for local infection. 

"There's no threat to the general public's health from confirmed or suspected cases," said Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the Delaware Division of Public Health.

State public health officials said the adult woman who contracted the Zika virus traveled to a part of the world affected by the mosquito-borne illness, but refused to say where she went. Officials also refused to release the woman's age and where she lives in Delaware.

"We are protecting the personal privacy for that individual," said Rattay. "It is our obligation." 

The Zika virus outbreak has caused the Centers for Disease Control to warn pregnant women to postpone travel, if at all possible, to places where Zika is confirmed due to the threat of serious birth defects. Those locations include: Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, U.S. Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama.



Pregnant women are also being urged to schedule a screening with a doctor if they've traveled to Central or South America, or the Caribbean, where Zika is prominent. Their male partners should also be screened because Rattay said the virus can be transmitted sexually from men to women. 

"There are two probable cases from a male partner to a female partner via sexual transmission, but there are no known examples of that transmission from a female to a male," explained Rattay, adding they've not seen blood transfusions cause contraction either.

Rattay said the woman in Delaware who contracted Zika was tested last week. State public health officials said she was not pregnant. She was also never hospitalized and has fully recovered from the virus, which presented mild flu-like symptoms. Other symptoms can include a fever, rash, conjunctivitis, and joint pain, but the state's top public health official said many people who contract the Zika virus present no symptoms at all. 

There's also no treatment for the Zika virus--symptoms usually go away on their own with rest, fluids, and over-the-counter pain medication. 

"This is not an illness that's as severe as influenza as we're in the winter with influenza season where you see very, very high fever often, aches and pains, many people hospitalized and people dying, this...presents as a very mild illness," said Rattay.

The main carrier of the Zika virus is the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. Asian tiger mosquitos also have the potential to carry the virus. The virus is spread from mosquito to person to mosquito, but Rattay said she's confident there's no risk for local infection tied to this case. 

"At this point in time there have been no cases transmitted, certainly, in this part of the world from this mosquito. We do not see this particular type of mosquito commonly at all in Delaware," said Rattay. "Although the science is evolving, there are no known cases through blood transfusion."

While traveling overseas to areas affected by the Zika virus, people are cautioned to wear insect repellent with DEET and to sleep under bed nets. Wearing long sleeves and long pants is also recommended to avoid being bitten.

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Contact Amy Cherry at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @acherry13.

http://www.wdel.com/story/73375-delaware-division-of-public-health-confirmed-zika-case-not-a-threat-to-delawareans