Canyon County man catches Zika after traveling to Mexico

The man tested positive for the mosquito-borne virus after a trip to Mexico in mid-August, a Southwest District Health spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The man, in his 40s, was not hospitalized.

This is the third case of travel-acquired Zika virus disease to be reported in Idaho this year, according to a district news release. There have been no locally-acquired cases in Idaho. At this time, there is no vaccine or medication for the virus.

As of Sept. 7 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 2,920 cases of Zika virus disease this year in the United States. Ninety-nine percent of these cases were travel-associated, while 43 were locally-acquired cases from Florida, the CDC reports.

Zika spreads to people primarily through the bite of two species of infected mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus), which are not native to Idaho, health officials say. The disease may also be spread from an infected person to sex partners during unprotected sex.

According to Randi Pedersen, epidemiologist for Southwest District Health, Zika typically does not cause symptoms or causes only a mild illness lasting up to a week. Some infected cases experience symptoms, such as fever, rash, joint pain, or red eyes for up to a week. However, Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause the woman to pass the virus to her fetus and has been linked to severe birth defects.

This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Canyon County man catches Zika after traveling to Mexico."