Zika virus in Massachusetts; State health officials confirm first case

The Boston Public Health Commission has confirmed that a man in Boston has been infected with the Zika virus and is expected to recover.

On Thursday, the Boston Public Health Commission announced that the patient, a Boston resident, contracted the virus while traveling in a country where the transmission is ongoing.

The commission gave no indication of where the man was treated or whether he was hospitalized.

Zika spreads through mosquito bites. Outbreaks have occurred in Africa, Southeast Asia, South America and the Pacific Islands.

Zika is not currently found in the United States, health officials said, but has been reported in those bringing the virus back from other countries.

[Also: World Health Organization calls emergency meeting on Zika]

"The species of mosquito that transmits Zika is rarely found in Boston," said Dr. Anita Barry, director of the Infectious Disease Bureau at the Public Health Commission.

The majority of people who get the virus won't get sick, but symptoms can include a fever, rash, and joint pain. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon.

However, it is dangerous for pregnant women as the virus is linked to brain defects, neurological disorders and neonatal malformations in babies. Arrival of the virus has coincided with a steep increase in the birth of babies with abnormally small heads and Guillain-Barre syndrome, a poorly understood condition in which the immune system attacks the nervous system, sometimes resulting in paralysis, according to WHO.

Pregnant women are urged to avoid travel to countries where the virus is circulating.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued an advisory outlining basic information about the outbreak of Zika virus in Central and South America, the concerns around Zika virus infection in pregnant women, and recommendations. 

"We were not surprised to see a case," Dr. Larry Madoff, director of the Division of Epidemiology and Immunization at the Department of Public Health, reportedly told State House News Service on Thursday. "We know a lot of people from our state travel to parts of the world where Zika has been transmitted. We won't be surprised to see some additional cases."

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Public health officials advise those travelling to warm areas where mosquitos are prevalent to take every precaution from being bitten by a mosquito and to use insect repellent. High risk countries are Brazil, Haiti and Colombia, and countries within South and Central America.

The World Health Organization announced Thursday that the Zika virus is "spreading explosively" and it will hold an emergency meeting of independent experts in Geneva Monday to decide if the outbreak should be declared an international health emergency.

WHO predicts 3 to 4 million people could be infected with the Zika virus in the Americas this year.

WHO said it will prioritize the development of vaccines and new tools to control mosquito populations, as well as improving diagnostic tests.

The United States is expected to start vaccine trials in people by the end of the year.

Twitter: @SusanJMorse