United States

First Zika Virus Case Confirmed in Maryland

A Maryland resident has been diagnosed with the Zika virus in Baltimore, in the first confirmed case in the state. 

The patient was found to have the virus after traveling to Central America, where transmission is active, the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Thursday afternoon. The diagnosis was made following a blood test.

The state health department said it is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue to monitor new developments in the virus.

"Our department will continue to actively partner with the CDC, Maryland health care providers, laboratories and health departments to provide support to Marylanders at risk of Zika infection -- especially to pregnant women," Maryland health department secretary Van T. Mitchell said in a statement.

Health officials said the patient has fully recovered since the case was reported in the past week.

Maryland delivered 17 Zika test kits to the CDC for analysis and so far one has been returned positive and two have been returned negative.

Zika is a viral infection that spread to the United States after travelers returned home from South America, the Caribbean and other tropical destinations.

Mosquitoes known as Aedes aegypti, found in the tropics, are carrying the virus to humans. Zika also can be sexually transmitted and spread from infected pregnant mother to her child. 

In February, the World Health Organization declared the Zika outbreak an international public health emergency, as it's spreading like wildfire. Zika is associated with relatively mild symptoms, except for pregnant women. Zika has been linked to a spike in the severe birth condition microcephaly.

So far, the D.C. Department of Health has confirmed three cases of Zika. One of the cases involves a pregnant woman. 

A company in Rockville, Maryland is working to eradicate the Zika virus in time for the Olympics this summer in Rio. " If you consider this a flood, we're trying to turn off the spigot. The spigot is the mosquitoes," GenArraytion CEO Paul Schaudes said.

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