According to The Texas Tribune, (In Jamie Lovegrove's article "Travis County Confirms First Case of Zika Virus") Travis County health officials (on Thursday the 4th) confirmed the first case of the Zika virus in the county. The virus is obtained via mosquito bite, and can be sexually transmitted. Researchers have warned that the Zika virus could be linked with microcephaly, a condition causing children to be born with abnormally small brains and skulls; for this reason officials are urging pregnant women not to travel to the 20+ Lain American countries where there has been roughly 4,000 reported cases of microcephaly since October.
The first Zika virus case in the country was found in a man who contracted the virus while travelling in Columbia. While the virus may currently affect Texas due to travelers, The mosquito that carries the virus is found in Texas, however their activity is low during the colder months- because of this, as temperatures rise signs of the virus moving northward through Mexico will be monitored. This virus can potentially cause many people to fall sick, and impair thousands of infants in our community. So fellow classmates I highly recommend that you keep up with the migration of this virus and wear some sort of repellent during the oncoming spring and summer seasons.
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