HOUSTON (AP) — Health officials are reporting the first Texas case of a baby born with microcephaly linked to the Zika virus.
Department of State Health Services Commissioner Dr. John Hellerstedt says lab tests confirm the baby recently born in Harris County has the virus infection that can cause horrible birth defects.
The agency said Wednesday the child’s mother had traveled from Latin America, where Zika spread mainly by a tropical mosquito is causing an epidemic and where the then-pregnant woman likely was infected.
So far, there are no cases of transmission by mosquitoes in the continental U.S.
Texas health officials have reported 59 cases of Zika virus disease — three of them confirmed in pregnant women. All are related to travel outside the U.S. to areas with active Zika transmission.
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