The Ohio Department of Health is reporting Ohio’s first case of Zika virus in a returning traveler from Haiti, a 30-year-old Cuyahoga County woman, city of Cleveland.

UPDATE 5:45 p.m.

The Ohio Department of Health is reporting a second case of the Zika Virus in Ohio.

The second case was found in a 21-year-old Stark County man returning from Haiti.

“Given the number of travelers between Ohio and Zika virus-affected countries, it would not be a surprise to see more cases,” said ODH Medical Director Dr. Mary DiOrio. “There is no vaccine available for Zika virus so it’s important for Ohioans traveling to affected areas to take steps to prevent mosquito bites.”

The Department of Health says the two cases are not connected.

Original Story

The Ohio Department of Health reports the state’s first case of the Zika virus has been found in a traveler returning to Cleveland.

A 30-year-old woman from Cuyahoga County was found with the virus after she recently returned to Cleveland from Haiti.

So far, 13 states have reported the virus, including Ohio and the District of Columbia.

The Zika virus is primarily transmitted through a mosquito bite, and there is no indication that it can spread from person to person through casual contact. CDC has confirmed a U.S. case of Zika virus infection in a non-traveler after the person’s sexual partner returned from an affected country and developed symptoms.

There is no current vaccine for the virus.

In response to the discovery, Ohio health officials are planning a “tabletop exercise” to ensure local and state levels before the 2016 mosquito season begins in May.

The Ohio Health Department is also taking action to keep residents safe.

“We've been putting out alerts, trying to educate providers about Zika and about the testing that can be done if need be,” Dr. Mary DiOrio of the Ohio Health Department said. “Zika is a reportable disease so we want docs if they do see a case to call us, call their local health department."

Dr. DiOrio said the Ohio Department of Health is also preparing to meet with all local health departments to talk about additional steps they can take and an action plan for mosquito season.

They will be setting additional traps and checking to see what parts of Ohio are home to the mosquito that can carry Zika.

“We're going to put out different traps to see if we can find the type of mosquito that can transmit the Zika Virus, which is the Asian Tiger Mosquito in Ohio,” Dr. DiOrio said. “We're going to talk about different prevention mechanisms that local health department may want to look at doing in combination with mosquito controllers. We definitely want to educate the public about what they can do to minimize any standing water near their homes so we don't have mosquito breeding sites."

Dr. Brett Worly responds to questions from his patients about what to do if they were to show signs of Zika.

“They would need to see a high-risk doctor or an infectious disease specialist to make sure they're safe and we control Zika as much as we can,” Dr. Worly said.

Local doctors tell 10TV there is no known effects for future pregnancies, but caution that a lot is unknown about this new disease.

"If a patient were to ask me 'I want to go to one of these South American or Central American nations that have a warning from the CDC', I would hesitate and inform them that there is this risk that we don't know all of the long-term implications of this,” Dr. Worly said. “We don't know all the different health conditions that could come of this. As far as we can tell, for people who are not pregnant it's a relatively benign condition. It's not necessarily dangerous most of the time, but I think there's a lot to be learned about all of this."

Right now there is no known medicine or vaccine, only supportive care.

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To prevent potential transmission through sexual contact, CDC recommends men with a pregnant sex partner abstain from sexual activity or consistently and correctly use condoms during sex for the duration of the pregnancy. CDC also recommends that pregnant women without symptoms of Zika virus disease be offered testing 2 to 12 weeks after returning from areas with ongoing Zika virus transmission.