Alexander Alusheff

Lansing State Journal

LANSING – An Ingham County woman is the first confirmed case of the Zika virus in Michigan, state health officials said.

The woman, 61, contracted the virus when traveling in Barbados, where the virus is being transmitted, said Linda Vail, health officer of the Ingham County Health Department.

The woman sought medical attention three weeks ago after developing a fever and rashes. Because those are symptoms of the Zika virus, the woman was tested, as procedure dictates, Vail said. There are a handful of other samples from residents in the county that are awaiting results, she said.

The woman no longer has the virus, she said.

Vail declined to say more specifically where the woman was from.

Zika virus is spread to humans primarily through bites from infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are not native to Michigan. Many who are infected will not experience any symptoms. There have been rare reported cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome following Zika virus infection and rare reports of sexual transmission of the virus.

There is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat Zika virus infection, Vail said.

Prior to 2015, outbreaks of Zika virus have occurred in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. In May of 2015, Brazil reported the first cases of Zika virus in the Americas. The virus has since spread to other countries and territories in South and Central America and the Caribbean.

Although Zika is not currently being spread by mosquitoes in the continental United States, cases have been reported in returning travelers. Health officials expect the number of Zika cases among travelers returning to the U.S. to increase as the outbreak continues.

"We expect to see a handful of these cases," Vail said, adding that people get the virus from mosquitoes in affected countries in Central and South America. "There is no person-to-person transmission issues."

Pregnant women are most at risk for complications from the Zika virus. Serious birth defects have been reported in children born to women who were infected with Zika virus during pregnancy. Vail said some test results the health department is waiting on are from pregnant women who traveled to affected countries but did not have any related symptoms.

For the most up-to-date information about where Zika virus is found, visit http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-travel-information.

Contact Alexander Alusheff at (517) 388-5973 or aalusheff@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexalusheff.