A Missoula woman has Montana’s first diagnosed case of the Zika virus. Missoula City/County Health Department officials say that Zika diagnosis was confirmed on Thursday.
Confidentiality rules prevent health officials from releasing any information about the patient other than she’s an adult woman who recently returned from a Zika-affected area. Her specific travel destination is private, but those affected areas can include Mexico, Central America and South America.
Montana Health Department Communicable Disease specialist, Jim Murphy, says Zika is similar to other mosquito-borne viruses like West Nile Virus:
"If you take 10 people and infect them with Zika, eight of them will never even know they had it and they’ll develop immunity. Two out of ten will develop some mild symptoms that don’t last long and pretty much go away and the person will will have immunity. We’re hoping that’s where this person will fall in.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms are usually mild and include fever, rash, joint pain and red, itchy eyes.
Of more concern is the recently discovered link with serious health problems in pregnant women. Women who’ve had a Zika infection can give birth to children with smaller-than-normal heads.
Officials say the Missoula woman who contracted the disease is not pregnant.
Missoula City/County Health Department official, Ellen Leahy says most Montanans have no reason to worry about local transmission.
"Because we aren’t in an area that’s having a Zika outbreak. We also don’t even have the types of mosquitos that can transmit Zika from person to person. What we’re seeing here is pretty much what we in local public health in the state have expected to see."
Travelers returning from Zika affected areas such as Mexico, Central America and South America who are pregnant should contact their healthcare provider.
