Woman in Rockland County Contracts Zika Virus

A Hudson Valley woman contracted Zika virus during a trip to a country stricken with the mosquito-borne illness, health officials say.

The Rockland County woman was diagnosed with Zika after returning home from the trip, according to county Executive Ed Day and Health Commissioner Patricia Schnabel Ruppert. It's that county's first known case of Zika.

Day and Ruppert said that there is no risk of transmission of the disease in the county, which causes low-grade fever, rashes, joint pain and conjunctivitis in most patients.

The virus causes a greater impact on expectant mothers and women who want to get pregnant. The condition has been linked to microcephaly in newborns in countries stricken with the virus, but it's not clear if the illness causes the birth defect.

The announcement comes weeks after New York City health officials said that a pregnant woman in the city had contracted the disease.

Officials warned that the species of mosquito most commonly associated with transmission of Zika -- the aedes mosquito -- is not currently active in New York City or the surrounding areas. Aedes mosquitos have been observed in the southern United States, however.

At least a half-dozen other residents in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have brought the disease back after visiting one of the countries affected by the outbreak.

Health officials have warned against traveling to the two dozen or so countries affected by the virus.

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