Dallas County reports first U.S. case of Zika virus

The first U.S. case of the Zika virus has been contracted in Dallas County, local health officials said on Tuesday, adding there are no reports of the virus being locally transmitted by mosquitoes in the Texas county.

Dallas County Health and Human Services said the case in Dallas was acquired through sexual transmission, adding that it received confirmation of the infection from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The person infected did not travel and acquired the virus from someone who had been to Venezuela, the county health department said on its twitter feed. It did not provide further information on the Texas infection due to privacy concerns.

The CDC said it did not investigate how the virus was transmitted.

There have been six confirmed travel-related cases of Zika virus disease, all among residents of Harris County, where Houston is located, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.

In medical literature, there has been only one case of Zika transmitted sexually and one case in which the virus was detected in semen.

Source: reuters On photo: World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan speaks during a news conference after the first meeting of the International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee concerning the Zika virus in Geneva, Switzerland, February 1, 2016.