BINGHAMTON – A Broome County resident who traveled abroad this year serves as the first confirmed and documented case of the Zika virus in central upstate New York, the closest case confirmed near Chenango county.
In a press briefing Wednesday, Broome County Health officials indicated that the individual—identified only as a non-pregnant person—has fully recovered in little more than a week's time following contraction of the virus.
The Broome County Health Department said in a statement that the patient recently traveled to the Caribbean and tested positive for the Zika virus, which is primarily spread by a certain species of mosquito.
"There is no imminent public health threat in Broome County," said Mary McFadden, deputy health department director, at Wednesday's news conference. She went on to say New York state is not a viable habitat for the species of mosquito responsible for spreading the virus among humans.
On a national scale, Zika has been declared a public health threat in some areas because of its link with serious birth defects in babies of mothers who were infected with the virus while pregnant, and currently there is no vaccination or medication for Zika.
Those at-risk areas include Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Those traveling to an active Zika region or have unprotected sex with a male partner who has recently traveled to one of those affected regions are at risk for contracting the virus, the health department said Wednesday.
Marianne Yourdon, a communicable disease nurse for the Broome Health Department said that nearly 15 other Broome residents have been tested in recent months, but all were negative for the virus.
Dr. Christopher Ryan, medical director of the Broome County Health Department said “The key here is travel, because without that travel history, there is nothing to suggest that these symptoms that would be Zika.”