Florida confirms 1st Zika infection from mosquito for 2017

Author: Associated Press
Published: Updated:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Florida health officials are reporting the state’s first case this year of the Zika virus transmitted by a mosquito.

A Manatee County couple traveled to Cuba, and one of them contracted Zika while on the Caribbean island and was bitten by a mosquito after returning home, the Florida Department of Health said Thursday.

That mosquito then bit and transmitted the virus to the other partner. Officials wouldn’t identify the sex of the couple, citing privacy laws.

MORE: First sexually transmitted Zika case in 2017 reported in Pinellas County

Officials say there’s no evidence of ongoing, active transmission along Florida’s Gulf coast, or anywhere in the state.

Florida reported 296 locally acquired Zika infections last year.

Zika causes relatively mild symptoms in most adults but can cause severe birth defects in babies of some women infected during pregnancy. The virus also can be transmitted sexually.

MORE: FGCU professors study Zika’s impact on Florida

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