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ROCKLAND COUNTY, N.Y. -- A Rockland County woman has been diagnosed with the Zika Virus, Rockland County Executive Ed Day and Commissioner of Health Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert confirmed early Friday afternoon.
Officials say the woman contracted the virus during a trip to South America, and that she did not contract it in New York where temperatures are too cold for mosquito activity.
The Rockland County Health Department said it is preparing for additional cases resulting from travelers.
It's the second reported case in the Hudson Valley, with the first reported last week in Orange County.
There is no risk of acquiring Zika virus in Rockland County or elsewhere in the Hudson Valley, officials said.
The virus is transmitted from a mosquito bite and cannot be spread by human-to-human contact, Feinstein said. Both the yellow fever (Aedes aegypti) and Asian tiger (Aedes albopictus) mosquitos transmit the virus, Stuart Feinstein, M.D., head of Health Quest Medical Practice’s Division of Infectious Diseases.
Symptoms of the Zika virus are similar to the flu with patients experiencing fever, joint pain, skin rash or conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye. Many who contract the disease experience no symptoms, however.
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